Londonderry GP practices under new management after contracts handed back

The Bridge Street Family Practice shares the same building with the Foyleside Family Practice, which has taken over its running

A new contractor has been appointed to provide GP services for the Bridge Street Family Practice in Londonderry.

The Department of Health confirmed that the Foyleside Family Practice will take over its management.

Almost 5,000 patients at Bridge Street will automatically register with Foyleside when it takes over services from 1 August, the Department of Health said.

Both practices share the same building at Bridge Street Medical Centre.

Another Derry GP practice, Racecourse Medical Centre in the Shantallow area, is also under new management after handing back its contract last December.

'Situation is dire'

Dr Ancel Orr, a GP at Foyleside Family Practice, described the current state of primary care in Northern Ireland as "dire" and warned that GPs are facing a daily "tsunami of problems".

"We can't recruit when colleagues retire," she said. "Lack of locum work and long waiting lists, high demands, low morale and this is just contributing yet again.

"The situation is pretty dire. We're sort of nearly holding our breath every day to see if anybody else is going to hand back their contract or close the doors.

"It's sad that, especially some of the smaller practices, just don't seem to be able to recruit, colleagues are retiring, new doctors are even leaving... there's not enough of them or they're just too afraid to take on new partnerships or any salaried posts at this time and, on top of that, the demand for our services is like never before."

Bridge Street's future had been in doubt after it notified the Department of Health's strategic planning and performance group (SPPG) in January that it intended to hand back its contract on 31 July.

New contract at Racecourse

When practices hand back their contracts, the Department of Health has six months to find new management to take over their running.

The Western Health and Social Care Trust has now confirmed it is the new temporary contractor for the Racecourse Medical Centre after prospective new management fell though.

A Department of Health spokesperson told BBC News NI: "The trust is stepping in to provide an interim solution following the unexpected withdrawal of the GP contractor who was awarded the contract earlier this month."

The new contract took effect at the beginning of June.

"Patients at the practice do not need to register with another practice. They should continue to contact the practice as normal and will receive a letter in the coming days advising of their new GP arrangements," the spokesperson added.