Kilkeel Medical Practice has become the latest GP service to announce it will hand its contract back to the Department of Health.
In a statement on Facebook, doctors at the County Down practice said they had been unable to recruit GPs to fill several vacancies.
As a result the workload has become unsustainable.
The practice will operate as normal until 1 November while efforts are undertaken to recruit a new contractor.
Around a dozen GP practices have made a similar decision in the past 12 months.
The practice said it was a “difficult decision”.
“The practice has been operating with half the workforce of three years ago and as a result the management of the ever-increasing workload has become unsustainable,” the statement from the doctors said.
Patients do not need to do anything.
“We want to assure our patients that we will continue to deliver GP services as normal until the contract is handed back,” the doctors added.
The Department of Health will shortly write out to all patients and will begin the process of advertising and recruiting a new GP contractor.
