Fear that 1,500 could be left without GP when Shrewsbury practice closes this week
Campaigners say they fear that hundreds of patients will be left without a GP when a practice closes this week.
Whitehall Medical Practice in Shrewsbury will close on Friday after Shropshire Clinical Commissioning Group failed to find a new operator.
But campaigners fighting the closure, say they believe 1,500 patients will be left without a GP on Saturday morning – with a months-long wait to find a new one.
Concerns have also been raised about what will happen to patient records once the building closes.
Dennis Cheese, one of the campaigners, said: “We are concerned that patients will be left without a GP despite the assurances of the CCG.
See also:
“We believe that more than 1,500 patients will not have moved to a new GP by the time Whitehall closes this week.
“The CCG says that all these patients will receive a letter allocating them to a new GP practice.
“The problem here is that they may be allocated a new GP practice but people must apply to join.
“We have been told that Belvidere Practice, which is the nearest one to Whitehall, is only accepting five patients a day.
“That means that even though Whitehall patients have been allocated a new GP practice, they could be waiting months to be accepted.”
His comments were echoed by Councillor David Vasmer, Lib Dem member for Underdale.
At Shropshire Council’s Health Overview Scrutiny Committee today (MON), he said: “We are demanding assurances from the CCG that all patients will be able to register with a new GP by the end of the week after Whitehall closes.
“And we are asking any patient who has not been able to register with their allocated GP after September 30 to let us know.
“We are also concerned about patient records. The Whitehall Medical Practice closes on Friday and the staff move out of the premises.
“Who will then organise the transfer of patient records to other GP practices?”
Councillor Vasmer said he has written a letter to Nicky Wilde, director of primary care at Shropshire CCG, asking for reassurances.”
Councillor Vasmer added that he was disappointed minutes of the last health scrutiny committee had not recorded some negative comments made about the closure.
He said comments from Councillor Kate Halliday about her lack of satisfaction about the CCG’s efforts to find a new operator were not recorded.
He was told that minutes were not a “verbatim record” of meetings.
