Kells and Connor GP practice saved from imminent closure

Dalriada Urgent Care will take over as the new contractor at Kells and Connor Medical Practice in County Antrim

A GP practice near Ballymena, County Antrim, has been saved from closure after new management was found to operate it, the Department of Health has said.

Kells and Connor Medical Practice was due to close within weeks following unsuccessful attempts to find a new contractor.

However, Dalriada Urgent Care, which also provides GP out-of-hours services for the Northern Trust area, has agreed to take over the role.

The practice has about 4,000 patients.

The existing practice operators had given notice that they were resigning their contract from 30 April.

However, the department said that in the past few days a proposal was made by Dalriada Urgent Care.

It means the practice will continue to run as normal and patients will not have to be allocated to other GP practices in the surrounding areas.

The department added that it "regrets the uncertainty experienced in the local community".

"Patients of the practice can disregard correspondence issued in the past week about the planned closure," it said.