Trust to take over two surgeries after resignation of GPs, says Stormont health department

The South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust is to take on the contract for the Priory and Springhill surgeries located in Holywood and Bangor, North Down as part of a "temporary arrangement".

The move shows the "perilous state" of general practice in Northern Ireland, a leading GP has said.

A spokesperson for the Stormont health department said: "Under this new temporary arrangement, which will take effect from 1 February 2023, the Trust will work with the Department to secure ongoing locum GP cover for the practice.

"It follows extensive work to identify a new GP contractor to take over the practice, following the resignation of the current GP Partners.

"Patients do not need to take any action. Patients of the practice can be assured that its services will continue under the new arrangement. They will receive letters on the situation over the coming days. Patients needing GP services should continue to contact the practice as normal."

Dr Alan Stout, who chairs the British Medical Association's GP committee in Northern Ireland, said: "This is yet another example of the perilous state that general practice in Northern Ireland is in. This practice was in trouble many months ago. An enthusiastic new contractor did express an interest in taking on the practice but realised it would be impossible to get enough GPs to work there with them to meet the workload. The current funding structures where the amount GPs get per patient has not increased sufficiently also contributed to their decision to decline taking the practice over."

He continued: “We need to urgently resolve our workforce crisis and ensure that General Practice has a sustainable future; we need to address the indemnity issue, stabilise the workload and move away from the narrative that GPs are working ‘part time’ or are closed to patients when GPs across Northern Ireland are doing the very best they can to meet demand."

Dr Stout added: “The Trust taking on a contract like this is an emergency measure and cannot be seen as the future of general practice. We will work closely with them to try to ensure an alternative solution.”