Lisnaskea: At-risk GP practice operators 'committed to community'

Maple Healthcare formally declared its intention in a letter sent to the department last week

The managers of an at-risk GP practice in County Fermanagh have reassured staff and patients that they remain "committed to the community".

Maple Healthcare in Lisnaskea is one of Northern Ireland's largest GP practices.

The managers have handed their contract back to the Department of Health, meaning the practice requires a change in how it operates or who operates it.

It will continue seeing patients as normal for the next six months.

The Department of Health has said it will start a recruitment process to find new operators for the practice.

The number of partners at Maple Healthcare has reduced over the past 18 months, while another is due to retire in early 2023.

It is understood one option would be for the Western Trust to take on the management of the practice.

In recent years, the surgery had stepped in to provide services when neighbouring GPs retired.

This has led to Maple Healthcare taking over the patients of three practices in Roslea, Newtownbutler and Lisnaskea.

'More time for patients'

In a statement, the management of Maple Healthcare said media reports over the weekend of the practice's potential closure had caused "anxiety and uncertainty".

"We would like to reassure all our staff and patients that we are continuing to provide GP care and services and we remain committed to the community in Lisnaskea, Newtownbutler and Roslea," they said.

The statement added the changes in partners and a "failure to recruit sufficient new partners" led to management exploring with the department how "GP services can continue to be delivered locally over the years ahead".

The statement said that the partners at the practice wanted to be released from administrative tasks to have "more time to devote to patient care".

"We would like to clarify that rather than a 'change in management' which was erroneously reported over the weekend, what we seek is a change in employment and contractor status," the statement added.

It added that the partners intend to continue to work in Lisnaskea and Newtownbuter and continue to deliver services.

"We hope that whatever agreement is reached with the department, it will safeguard GP services within our community for the foreseeable future," it said.

The statement went on to say that the transfer of ownership is expected to take six months and that patients were urged to stay with the practice "as we intend to provide a seamless transfer to a new provider".

• Emergency general surgery withdrawn from SWAH

• Almost 100 NI GP practices seek emergency support

• Fewer GP practices operating in Northern Ireland

In their letter to the Department of Health, the partners cited "excessive stresses and intolerable pressures" at work as some of the reasons for handing back the contract.

"The remaining partners find it inconceivable that they could continue to carry the burden of responsibility of running the practice," they added.

The new came days after the Western Trust confirmed plans to temporarily remove emergency surgery services from the South West Acute Hospital in Enniskillen.

On Saturday, Dr Alan Stout, co-chairman of the British Medical Association GP committee, said there was a well-known problem with recruiting new GPs in the area.

He also said nine GP services across Northern Ireland had either handed back their contract or were in the process of doing so and warned of more following suit.