PATIENTS of a Co Down medical centre are to be contacted by the Department of Health after GPs at the site said they were handing back their contract after recruitment issues left services "unsustainable".
A spokesperson for Kilkeel Medical Practice said services would continue as normal until November 1, while a search is conducted to find a new operator.
In a statement posted to social media, the spokesperson said they were handing back the contract "with regret".
"This difficult decision has been taken as the practice has been unable to recruit GPs to fill several vacancies for some time now," they said.
"The practice has been operating with half the workforce of three years ago and as a result the management of the ever increasing workload has become unsustainable."
"The Department of Health will now begin the process of advertising and recruiting a new GP contractor."
The spokesperson said they would "continue to deliver GP services as normal until the contract is handed back".
"Patients do not need to do anything and should continue to contact the practice as normal. The Department of Health will shortly write out to all patients," they added.
Kilkeel DUP councillor Henry Reilly said GPs at the centre had provided "excellent services under extreme pressure".
"The centre serves over 9,000 patients despite their staffing issues, and we knew for some time the possibility this could happen," he told the Irish News.
"They have been doing their absolute best, and the hope is now that a new contractor will be secured, as the centre closing doesn't bear thinking about for the community in Kilkeel."
The Irish News contacted the Department of Health for comment.
Notice of the contract being handed back to the department follows difficulties in securing a new operator at a medical centre in Co Antrim, which recently got a last-minute reprieve after fears it would shut for good.
Kells and Connor Medical Practice was due to close on May 1 after the Department of Health said it had "fully exhausted” efforts to secure a new operator at the beginning of April, before it was announced it had secured the services of Ballymena-based Dalriada Urgent Care.
