NEGOTIATIONS are at an advanced stage for the takeover of a troubled Co Armagh GP surgery run by a health trust due to chronic staff shortages.
Bannview Medical Practice in Portadown has more than 5,000 patients on its books and been beset with problems due to difficulties in retaining permanent doctors.
In an unprecedented move, the Southern health trust began managing the surgery in 2017 after its last remaining GP resigned saying she simply "couldn't cope" working 12 to14 hour days with no breaks.
The trust, which has used mainly costly locum GPs to staff the premises, has given notice of its contract to the Health and Social Board. The contract runs out at the end of next month.
The Irish News has learned that a group of doctors making up the Southern 'GP Federation' are in talks with the Board with a view to running Bannview, with sources saying a deal is "in sight".
There are 17 such Federations across the north, which are described as "community interest non-profit companies". They are made up exclusively of GPs.
If a contract is agreed, it will the first time a Federation will manage a GP practice in Northern Ireland.
The move is significant as it comes at a time of severe workforce pressures in the sector, with many older GPs preparing to retire and no-one to replace them.
Pandemic pressures have also added to already mounting workloads.
A spokeswoman for the Health and Social Care Board (HSCB) confirmed that talks were currently taking place with "local GPs" to develop a "sustainable solution" for services at Bannview.
In April, a takeover bid by a neighbouring practice collapsed at the eleventh hour.
The HSCB spokeswoman added: "It is hoped that discussions will lead to a model of care which provides both high quality clinical care and attracts newly qualified GPs to join the team at Bannview Medical Practice.
"We will take all measures necessary to inform practice patients and the general public when future service provision arrangements at Bannview Medical Practice have been confirmed."
A GP Federation spokesman declined to comment "at this stage".
SDLP Upper Bann MLA Dolores Kelly said patient concerns about accessing care at the Portadown practice were among the biggest issues she dealt with in her constituency office, "long before the pandemic".
She added: "We've been emailing the board for weeks to get updates. Time is running out. If a deal isn't found the other option is 'dispersal' of the 5,000 Bannview patients which won't work as other practices are already at capacity.
"It's been bad during lockdown but prior to that it was every bit as bad with lack of continuity and lack of certainty for patients. People couldn't get appointments or even get through on the telephone. There was also problems in accessing blood tests and other diagnostic tests due to a backlog and constantly changing staff.
"The trust are also spending more on agency staff and locums to run Bannview, it's a false economy."
A spokeswoman for the board said releasing "commercially sensitive" figures for the amount spent by the trust on running the practice - including a breakdown of the locum bill - would "cause prejudice to the commercial interests of the HSCB", with "implications for the HSCB in discharging its legal functions and in the delivery of GP services to patients across Northern Ireland".
