Bridge Street GP practice in Derry
Sixteen surgeries have handed back their contracts to the Department of Health (DoH) over the last year, including two in Derry – Bridge Street and Racecourse Medical Practices.
One GP had been lined up to take over Racecourse Medical Practice in Shantallow but has since pulled out. The Western Trust has stepped in to take over the service until another GP is appointed.
The British Medical Association (BMA) have warned that up to 50 practices are at risk of closure.
Said the Foyle MLA: “The situation facing GP surgeries is a microcosm of the crisis right across the health service.
Specialist health staff, including GPs, are facing a relentless workload amid a backdrop of staffing and resource shortages.
“Many are choosing to take posts outside of Northern Ireland where pay and opportunities are more lucrative.
“Meanwhile, persistent cuts keep biting – the Department of Health has cut nursing and other allied health student places, pay for health staff continues to lag far behind.
“Such short-sighted decisions will crush battle-weary staff and further impact safety within GP surgeries and hospitals.
“Patients are not accessing the care they need and sadly lives will be lost if this crisis is not dealt with urgently.
“The crisis unfolding in all areas of health is a direct consequence of chronic underfunding and failures of those who held the purse strings in government to properly invest in the health service.
“The situation didn’t happen overnight and it won’t be fixed overnight either; but returning a functioning executive to deliver appropriate funding would be a step in the right direction.”
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