PLANS to close an out-of-hours GP service in South Belfast have been shelved following a public consultation.

Last November, the Belfast Health Trust proposed making cost savings by centralising its out-of-hours GP service on the Crumlin Road in North Belfast and closing the service at the Knockbreda Health and Wellbeing site in South Belfast.

However, after hearing input from the public, the plans has been shelved by the Belfast Trust.

Castlereagh South DUP Councillor Brian Higginson, who brought a motion on the matter to Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council, said the Trust had listened to the public.

"The Belfast Trust has listened to the community and decided to keep Knockbreda out-of-hours GP service open after public consultation," he said.

“A huge thank you to everyone who made their voices heard. Your support made all the difference.

“While some parties who claim to stand up for the community were nowhere to be seen, the DUP fought hard to ensure local voices were heard.

“We’re delighted that the Trust has responded to the concerns we reflected on behalf of residents. It's a real victory for people power.

“I’m delighted to have worked on this important issue with DUP colleagues from across South and East Belfast.

“Well done to everyone who took the time to feed into the consultation.”

A Belfast Trust spokesperson said: “Belfast Health and Social Care Trust undertook a consultation on the future provision of general practice out-of-hours.

“On the basis of the feedback received during this process, while there are clear benefits to centralising this service on one single site, the Trust will not proceed with the proposal at this time.

“The Trust may wish to revisit this decision at a later stage, but this would be subject to further consultation.”

It added: “The GP out-of-hours service will proceed with a Multi Disciplinary Team approach, supporting GPs and creating Primary Care out of hours.

“This will help to ensure our patients can access the right care from the most appropriate clinician.

"The Trust also plans to work with the Department of Health and pharmacy to explore options for the development of electronic prescribing. This would remove the need for patients to collect paper copies in person.

“The Trust wishes to thank everyone who took part in the consultation and provided invaluable feedback.”