Northern Ireland

New contractor announced to manage GP surgery in Co Down

The new contractor follows

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New contractor announced for Co Down surgery (Anthony Devlin/PA)
By John Breslin

A new contractor has been appointed to provide general practitioner services to patients in and around a Co Down village.

The new contractor will take over the work of supplying services at Donaghcloney Surgery on January 1, serving 4,593 patients.

The GP Federation Contracts Management CIC will take over the management of Donaghcloney Surgery following the retirement of the current GP, the Department of Health announced.

Castle Buildings, the headquarters for the Northern Ireland Department of Health in the grounds of Stormont (Liam McBurney/PA)
Castle Buildings, the headquarters for the Northern Ireland Department of Health in the grounds of Stormont (Liam McBurney/PA)

According to the department, the announcement of a new contractor “follows extensive work to identify a new contractor to take over the practice, following notification of the termination of the contract by the previous contractor in August 2023″. The previous GP retired.

The department added: “All 4,593 patients of Donaghcloney Surgery have been automatically registered with the new practice. Patients do not need to take any action.

“Any patient needing GP services should continue to contact the practice as usual.”

A GP Federation is a collective group of GP Practices across a set geographical area with a common desire to work together at scale, sharing responsibility for the development and delivery of high-quality patient-focused services, closer to home for their local population.