By Ryan Sands
THE Southern Trust is still seeking new GP partners to take over Kilkeel Medical Practice.
This was confirmed by Dr Stephen Austin, Trust medical director, at a special council meeting on Monday, after Mournes Sinn Féin councillor Michael Rice requested an update on the current situation.
The Trust took over the management of the Greencastle Street surgery on a temporary basis on 1 November 2023, following the resignation of the previous GP partners.
At the meeting, Cllr Rice highlighted “grave concerns regarding the viability of the clinic in Kilkeel, with fears that it was going to be closing soon”.
“There are also grave concerns with the clinic, as local users are frequently experiencing major issues trying to get an appointment with their GP,” he continued.
“I know this is a major issue across the north for GP clinics, but it seems to be acutely felt within Kilkeel.
“I would just like an update in relation to that clinic.”
Responding, Dr Austin said that, following the resignation of the previous partners, there were “unsuccessful recruitment processes”, which ultimately led to the Southern Trust being asked to take over the practice’s management.
“That was a temporary request by the Department of Health, and that is since November 2023,” he stated.
“We are still working with the Strategic Performance and Planning Group to try and work through to see if we can identify a new GP contractor.
“That still is a concern to us, and it would be much better to have a GP in control of that practice.
“We are still actively seeking to do that, so we will hand the practice back to GPs working in the local community – just to assure you that we are still interested in progressing that.”
Cllr Rice then asked: “If there are no GPs coming forth for Kilkeel, realistically, in the long-term, what are we looking at then?
“Because I know it is on a short-term basis that the Trust took over that clinic.
“Is it a case of there will be a date set?
“If you can’t hand that over to a GP, then it could become an issue where you’re looking at closure?”
The Trust medical director replied that the situation is “quite complex”, though stressed that “I don’t think we are at the stage of giving up on that at present”.
“You can get GP services where GPs come in in a salaried position to provide some of those services, but they’re not necessarily managing the service,” he said.
“At the minute, we are managing the service as well, but, ideally, we think it is better to have that managed at the local level, because you get more innovation in practice and opportunities that the local GP will be able to see to transform and change services, based on the needs of the patients that they see in that particular locality.
“Whereas, the Trust, it’s just so far away.
“It’s difficult, so we are holding it steady as opposed to trying to develop the services, which is where the benefit of a local GP would be when they can look at that and see what opportunities they can see from their general practice perspective.”
