Members of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council have welcomed confirmation that a contract has been offered for the GP practice in Lisnaskea, although the proposed provider as yet remains unknown.

On November 8, 2022, current operators Maple Healthcare notified the Strategic Planning & Performance Group (SPPG) that it was handing back the contract.

Interviews were held on January 31, following which the SPPG offered the contract to a new contractor, and is awaiting confirmation of acceptance.

The Department of Health advised Maple Healthcare will remain funded for the provision of services and this will transfer when the new contractor becomes operational from June 1.

Ulster Unionist Councillor Victor Warrington told the Policy and Resources Committee: “This is more positive news for a change. I certainly welcome it, and I hope everything goes according to plan.”

Councillor Eamon Keenan, Independent, agreed the news is “definitely positive, but we still haven’t got much information at the minute”.

He proposed requesting to meet the new contractor as a council, as “I’m aware the local community health group intends to do the same, but we could also meet and welcome them”.

Seconding this, Councillor Donal O’Cofaigh, CCLA, was also heartened by the news, but called for clarification “on the status of this new provider”.

He continued: “It has been previously stated there’s a threat of private GPs coming in.”

He claimed: “While it was branded as scaremongering when warnings were issued around the potential of patients being charged to see GPs, it’s not that long ago when the Roslea Surgery closed that residents were actually forced – through necessity – to pay to see a GP, through a service operated in a pharmacy at a cost of around £55, to speak to a doctor in Belfast. So it’s a very real threat.”

Sinn Fein’s Councillor Thomas O’Reilly said it was good to learn a new provider is willing to take the contractor, but proposed writing back to the Department as: “I’m impatient to know who this is – we want to get as much information to be able to allay our constituents’ concerns.”

Party colleague, Councillor Sheamus Greene, seconded this, describing the news as “very welcome and positive”, although he too wanted to know more about the provider.

However, he noted a continuance to “scaremonger” and stressed that, despite the closure of Roslea Surgery resulting in Lisnaskea becoming oversubscribed: “Nobody was forced to pay for the private GP service.

“It was available to everyone, and no-one was forced to use it. This is scaremongering of the worst type.”

Independent Councillor Josephine Deehan said she was “very pleased and relieved that patients will be in a position to access primary care services”.

She added: “It’s important every resident has the opportunity to be registered with a GP practice and be able to access services as and when they are needed, and free at the point of delivery.”

In respect of Councillor O’Cofaigh’s concerns around charging, she said there are GP services available “in the same way as there are private hospital specialists which can be accessed for a fee for those who are prepared to pay it”.

She continued: “I am opposed to that system, because it creates a two-tier service.

“Those who can afford to do so, pay for timely treatment, but that type of service should be available under the NHS.

“Unfortunately, we know GP services face severe threat and no more than in the South West area. There is ongoing difficulty in attracting GPs to rural areas.

“There needs to be a radical overhaul in the delivery of primary care services.”

Both proposals passed unanimously.

 

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