Kilkeel Medical Practice temporarily saved from closure

Kilkeel Medical Practice contract has been temporarily taken over by the Southern Health and Social Care Trust.

The Department of Health (DoH) confirmed the agreement, which will last until 31 March.

The practice in the County Down town handed back its contract in April as it was unable to recruit GPs to fill vacancies.

The DoH said patients did not need to take any action and services should continue as normal.

It comes after 16 surgeries handed contracts back to the DoH in the past year.

Priory and Springhill Surgery had also been at risk of closure, with the South Eastern Health Trust temporarily running the practice until a new contractor took over in July.

The number of GP practices across Northern Ireland has fallen in the past eight years by more than 9%, according to the DoH.

There were 317 surgeries at the end of March 2023 compared to 350 in 2014.

In 2022 there were 319.

When GPs operating a medical practice hand their contract back it means they no longer intend to run it.

That may be due to issues such as retirement, staffing and recruitment problems or financial pressures facing the practice.

The DoH will then attempt to find a new GP or a group of GPs to take over the running of the surgery.

Northern Ireland has the second-highest number of GPs per 100,000 registered population in the UK - Scotland has the highest.