A meeting between local politicians and representatives from Maple Health Centre in Lisnaskea revealed that two doctors have left the practice since August, with another two due to leave this year.

It is a concern for the under-pressure GP practice, which has been the focus of serious issues raised by patients about the difficulty in getting appointments and speaking to doctors.

The meeting, which took place last Friday, February 5, was the second meeting of its kind and it provided an update to those in attendance, which included elected reprentatives from across the political spectrum.

Independent councillor Eamon Keenan said the meeting provided some good and bad news for the local community, with the news of the loss of doctors the most pressing concern.

“The bad news is that they have lost two doctors since the last meeting in August and they are going to be losing two more,” explained Councillor Keenan.

“They are going to be losing one in two months, and another doctor is going in eight months. So they will be down to four doctors in the practice.

“It’s not good, with some 15,000 patients. They said they are having trouble retaining and recruiting.”

With plans for the completion of the new Health Centre in Lisnaskea scheduled for 2025/26 according to correspondence from the Western Trust to Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, Councillor Keenan said the struggle to retain and recruit doctors is worrying.

He continued: “We spoke about that, and I asked, ‘If the surgery is built in 2025/2026 with only four doctors, will they be fit to run it?’, and [The Western Trust] said that is the risk and that is the danger.”

Councillor Keenan did say progress has been made around some issues with the service at Maple Health Centre, with the hiring of advanced nurse practitioners and a change to the telephone system at the surgery – something he said would not have happened if it were not for the pressure from the public through the Community Health Committee.

He also said there is uncertainty around the multidisciplinary team being provided to the practice, which may be stalled due to the political collapse at Stormont.

But while there is progress, Councillor Keenan knows that without doctors to see patients, problems will continue.

He said: “Four doctors to leave inside of a year is a lot – that’s half their workforce. It does seem they are trying, but without doctors how far can you go?”

In a statement about the meeting, a Maple Healthcare spokesperson said: “We had a very positive meeting with local representatives working together to improve services for our patients.

“We appreciate their support in communicating our new changes to improve patient access.

“We explained that we had increased phone lines and staff and now have clinicians triaging between 9am and 10.30 am each day. We are asking patients to phone for appointments only between these times.

“A pilot of the system has already shown a reduction in the number of patients unable to get through on the telephone by 70 per cent, and increased number of calls answered by 30 per cent.

“We very much welcomed the representatives’ support on moving forward the multi-disciplinary team roll-out to County Fermanagh.

“We had discussions on the retention and recruitment of GPs and staff to general practice and welcome the representatives’ support in a recruitment drive.

“We also shared some positive news such as the practice receiving the Robin Harland prize for excellence in teaching from QUB, a nomination by a patient for the RCGP Practice of the Year award, and the development of the new health and care centre,” added the representative.