Freeze on GP practices in north Down, Ards and east Belfast on taking new patients
The Department of Health has confirmed a temporary freeze on new patients at GP practices in north Down, Ards and east Belfast.
Earlier this month it was revealed that Priory surgery in Holywood and Springhill surgery in Bangor will close in February 2023, if no new doctors can be found to manage the practice.
Department officials say work is already underway to recruit new doctors.
In light of the news, patients rushed to try and register with a new surgery in the area.
However, a temporary freeze until the end of August has been put in place to stop transfers.
A Department of Health spokesperson said: "The Department of Health has agreed a temporary list freeze (until the end of August) for the other North Down, Ards and east Belfast practices.
"This means that patients already registered with a GP in the area cannot move to another practice.
"The patient lists are not closed to patients seeking to register from outside the area. We have agreed this temporary measure to stabilise the situation as large numbers of patients registered with Priory surgery sought to register with another practice.
"We have advised patients that both Priory and Springhill surgeries are open and they should remain registered and contact their surgery as normal.
"We have started the process of recruiting GPs to take over the practice and will continue to keep patients notified of the outcome of this process."
The move comes as primary care experiences extreme pressure across Northern Ireland, causing many patients to flock to emergency departments.
On Monday evening, the South Eastern Trust warned Accident and Emergency was facing huge numbers of patients.
Sinn Féin MLA Colm Gildernew has said people need greater access to GPs at this time, not less.
The party's health spokesperson said: “News that the Department of Health has introduced a temporary freeze on people moving to another GP practice in North Down, Ards and east Belfast is worrying.
“This is a short-term solution and will not deal with the problems facing our health service.
“Tomorrow (Wednesday) I will meet with GP representatives to discuss how we can work together to address these issues that are affecting both patients and GPs.
“We need to tackle the problems facing our health service and ensure people can see a GP when they need one by getting the Executive up and running today to invest an extra £1 billion in our health service to recruit more doctors to tackle shortages and lengthy waiting lists.
“The people suffering from the DUP’s boycott of the Assembly and Executive are those patients stuck on a waiting list and those struggling to see their doctor.
“We are ready to get around the table with others today to do the job we are elected to do, that means making health a priority and working to fix the problems in our health service.”
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