IT’S BEEN exactly four years, but the fight to have a GP service returned to Roslea is continuing, with the group behind the campaign hiring one of the North’s top legal firms to help with their cause.
In what has been described as a glimpse of what could be in story for many rural areas as the GP shortage crisis continues, since 2017 the people of Roslea and its surrounding areas have been having to travel for up to two hours at a time for a round trip to see a doctor at the nearest surgery in Lisnaskea.
A recent survey carried out by the Roslea Save or Surgery (SOS) group, completed by scores of Roslea patients who had travelled to Lisnaskea for treatment, reported chronic difficulties getting appointments, and long waits when they do, with many having to take days off work or ask family members to take time off work to bring them in when they do get an appointment. Those without access to their own transport also face taxi bills of anywhere from £10 to £40, depending on their location.
John McCluskey from Roslea SOS, who was previously elected to the Council on the back of the issue before retiring, said the campaign had “taken a more positive turn recently.”
“We have now engaged a firm of solicitors in Belfast (Phoenix Law) who are willing to take our case forward,” he said. “We obtained some evidence recently which will be helpful in showing how the closure of the GP surgery has had serious affects on the health of many people in the Roslea district.”
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