EIGHT weeks of temporary medical cover will commence in Roslea this week amid calls for the vacant GP post to be filled after no-one applied for the job.  

As revealed in the Herald earlier this month, Roslea Medical Practice will become vacant from tomorrow (Thursday) as Dr Donal Collins leaves his long-term post. In the meantime, a group of local GPs, working on behalf of Western Rural Healthcare, are stepping in to fill the breach. 

Just two months after a consortium of doctors took over Ederney surgery, the model is again being used to keep the rural practice open during the summer.   

Dr Brendan O’Hare, who hails from Enniskillen and runs the Castlederg Group Surgery, has agreed with other colleagues to cover Roslea surgery with a “limited skeleton service on a temporary basis”. 

From this Friday, July 1st until August 31st, GP telephone advice will be provided in the mornings in the event of an emergency while a doctor will be available in the afternoons to see patients and sign prescriptions. 

Local SDLP MLA Richie McPhillips has pressed the Health Minister Michelle O’Neill on the future of Roslea Health Centre.

Ms O’Neill confirmed that the Health and Social Care Board (HSCB) had “advertised widely for a contractor to provide general medical services from the practice” but “regrettably, no applications were received”. 

She added: “In order to secure the continued provision of services at Roslea, the HSCB has held discussions with other GP practices in the area and arrangements have now been put in place to provide interim medical cover for patients in Roslea until a longer term solution can be agreed. The HSCB will work with representatives from the British Medical Association’s local GP Committee and with local GP practices to agree a plan to ensure the provision of sustainable GP services in South East Fermanagh. I will be seeking regular progress reports on this work.”

The Minister says she is “determined to take action to ensure that everyone in the North has access to safe and sustainable GP services”. 

“A review of GP-led services here has recently been completed, and I will be carefully considering the recommendations within that review,” she added. 

While welcoming news of the interim GP provision for the people of Roslea and the wider area, Mr McPhillips told the Herald: “There needs to be a long-term solution to ensure patients have full-time access to GP services on a consistent basis. I will continue to push this issue with the Health Minister to ensure that a long-term solution is delivered sooner rather than later and to ensure that no patient in the local loses out.”