- Health Board has now agreed to keep Bannview Practice open

- Had it closed up to 5,200 patients in Portadown would have been left with no GP cover

- Decision comes after a day of intense media interest in the plight of local patients

Ulster Unionist MLA Doug Beattie has welcomed an announcement by the Health and Social Care Board (HSCB) that it will put in place measures, thought to be the use of temporary medical agency staff, to keep the Bannview practice open beyond the 13 January. Earlier today the Upper Bann MLA had issued a statement highlighting the plight of the 5,200 patients who were at serious risk of having no GP cover as every other GP practice in the town had stated that they had no capacity to take on any more patients.

Doug Beattie said:

“Having been brought to the precipice, it now looks like the Health and Social Care Board will at last put measures in place to keep the Bannview practise open beyond 13 January. I am led to believe they will be doing so by employing locum GPs to cover the practice at a cost of £500 a day per GP until a contractor can take over the practice.

“This news is welcome but having received a letter from the Portadown Health Centre GPs on the 23 December 2016 telling them about the imminent closure of the Bannview practise I find it unacceptable that the HSCB have waited until now, and only after considerable media attention, to put patients minds at rest.  It took the release of the letter from the Portadown Health Centre GPs to the HSCB, and subsequent media attention on the issue through the course of today (Wednesday) for them to inform elected representatives, Portadown GPs and the general public what their short term rescue plan was.

“I look forward to a long term plan for GP services in Portadown and a degree of stability. In the meantime, I will continue to show my support for all the GPs who work under immense pressure in the Portadown Health Centre.”