Larne Medical Practice: new contractor appointed

The Department of Health announced that Dr Johnny Burns and Partners have been appointed as the new contractor providing GP services to the patients of Larne Medical Practice with effect from May 1, 2024.

A letter will be sent to the patients registered with Larne Medical Practice in the coming days.

It follows extensive work to identify a new GP contractor to take over the practice, following the termination of the contract by the previous contractor in October 2023.

In a statement posted on the practice website in the autumn of 2023, the practice said that the decision to hand back the contract to the Department of Health was ‘taken with careful consideration and much regret’ adding: “We, the partners and our staff, have been planning and working towards the practice merger since last year.

“Given that one of the objectives of the merger was to stabilise medical services in Larne Health Centre, we are devastated that due to a lack of adequate medical cover, we cannot provide a safe sustainable service.

“We will continue to seek extra medical cover however, locum/employed GPs only perform a fraction of the work undertaken by a GP partner. This leaves the remaining GP partners with a further increase in workload that is unsustainable and ultimately unsafe for patients.”

The Larne practice also moved to reassure patients that it would continue to deliver GP services as normal until the contract is handed back.