In a referendum, which took place over the past two weeks, 99.6% of GPs voted to reject the offer.

Dr Frances O'Hagan, BMA NI GP committee chair, said: ‘What they have offered is an additional £1m into core funding, a paltry additional 0.01% of the overall health budget. The £5m offered for indemnity will not fully cover the costs GPs incur, and which they propose to restrict to GP partners only, and a contribution to the increased national insurance costs may not be enough to cover the actual cost to GPs.

‘We now need the minister and the department to come back to the negotiating table with a credible offer. Therefore, I have written to the minister today to seek an urgent meeting with him so we can work together on a solution.'

As part of the referendum, GPs were asked if they were willing to take further, collective action if a better offer was not presented, and 89% of respondents indicated that they would be willing to do this.

O'Hagan added: ‘To be very clear, if the minister does not fund indemnity and NIC properly and invest in core general practice then he is risking the very future of general practice in Northern Ireland.'