THE GP out-of-hours service in Belfast is under serious strain amid a surge in Covid cases and low staffing levels.
The Irish News understands that no doctors have been available for long periods over several weekends.
Staffing pressures have also hit other out-of-hours GP services, including Dalriada Urgent Care which provides a service to GP surgeries in the Northern Trust area.
In Belfast, several patients have reported delays of more than an hour before calls to the Knockbreda Centre, which covers the south and east of the city, were even answered.
Some patients were also advised that, due to a lack of GPs in the service, that they should visit the emergency department at the Royal Victoria Hospital.
A similar issue happened this month last year when there were gaps in the 'Beldoc' rotas that could not be filled and which led to its closure for periods.
A Belfast Trust spokesman said it was a "challenging time" for the service.
"Our GP out-of-hours service is facing considerable pressure at the moment due to increasing demand, the recent surge in Covid-19 cases and staffing challenges within the service," he said.
"We are working with our GP colleagues to ensure out-of-hours services are maintained but we do advise that call backs for non-urgent cases can be lengthy. We thank the public for their understanding at this challenging time.
"All calls to the service are graded by medical professionals and those in most need are treated as a priority."
Out-of-hours care in the Northern Trust area is also stretched.
A spokeswoman for Dalriada Urgent Care said: "Dalriada, like many other services, is under ongoing pressure and has contingencies in place to manage patients safely."
Dr Laurence Dorman, chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners in Northern Ireland, said out-of-hours services are under pressure.
"General practice has been dealing with an unprecedented high demand for many months with out-of-hours services particularly struggling," he said.
"We seen how these pressures have driven some GP practices to the verge of collapse in the last few weeks alone.
"It is essential this is given the priority it deserves, and general practice is given the support and workforce we so badly need to allow us to provide high quality and timely care in the community."
GP practices across Northern Ireland are under serious strain, with fewer practices forced to take on more patients.
Grove Medical Practice, at Grove Wellbeing Centre on York Road in north Belfast, is expected to hand back its contract to health chiefs later this year.
Earlier this month, the rural Dromore and Trillick Practice in Co Tyrone was taken over by the Western Trust after it struggled to find a replacement for an outgoing doctor.
