Two Fermanagh politicians have pledged their support to the Rosslea Save Our Surgery (SOS) campaign group, which is calling for the reinstatement of a GP in the rural village.

Sinn Féin MP Michelle Gildernew and DUP MLA Arlene Foster met the group and, according to a Rosslea SOS spokeswoman, they have “promised to do all they can to ensure that a GP and full medical services are restored to Rosslea.”

READ: Rosslea GP surgery closure: Fury over closure, what now for Rosslea?

The GP surgery closed in April after the Health and Social Care Board (HSCB) received no applications for the post. Patients are now receiving treatment from Maple Healthcare in Lisnaskea which has a total of 14,444 patients from Lisnaskea, Rosslea and Newtownbutler on its books.

The Rosslea SOS group feels that it has come up with “a very genuine and possible solution to this problem” and have discussed their idea with Ms. Gildernew and Mrs. Foster. They were not yet willing to reveal this “solution” to the media.

A spokeswoman for the campaign group told The Impartial Reporter: “Members of Rosslea SOS have met with the Health and Social Care Board on a number of occasions and with Maple Healthcare to discuss the closure of Rosslea Surgery. All meetings were unsuccessful as our concerns fell on deaf ears and were simply ignored.”

She continued: “Rosslea SOS have come up with a very genuine and possible solution to this problem but the HSCB are refusing to commission or fund this and are hiding behind arcane contractual bureaucracy. 

“In an attempt to highlight our difficulties and to bring about a solution we are meeting with all political representatives to gain their support. To date we have met with Michelle Gildernew, Sinn Fein and with Arlene Foster from DUP.  Both have pledged their support to the cause and have promised to do all they can to ensure that a GP and full medical services are restored to Rosslea.  We hope to meet with other parties within the coming days to discuss the matter and ask for their support.”
The group feels that the HSCB’s failure to find a new GP for Rosslea is “an attack on our rural community.”

The spokeswoman concluded: “Rosslea is a small village situated along the Monaghan border with an ageing population, high levels of deprivation and extremely poor public transport. The closure of Rosslea Medical Surgery and the current arrangement with Maple Healthcare is not working and is putting quality healthcare out of reach for the people of Rosslea.”