Deadline for Bury Road Surgery closure extended

GOSPORT MP Dame Caroline Dinenage has welcomed the news that the notice period for Bury Road Surgery has been extended until June 30.

This means that it will be able to continue serving patients as normal until then.

It follows an announcement in January that, following the retirement of the GP partner Dr Carl Anandan, the surgery was due to close in late March.

Since then, Dame Caroline has met regularly with Hampshire & Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board (ICB) to discuss potential solutions to avoid the closure of the practice and ensure the continuing provision of care.

Moving forward, this extension will allow consideration of possible options to avoid closure.

The MP has previously raised this issue to the Secretary of State for Health & Social Care, Steve Barclay, in the House of Commons.

And she said: “Constituents have rightly been concerned about the adequacy of local GP services which the proposed closure should have made even more acute. This extension gives hope that there may be a way to keep the surgery open.

“I know that the team at Bury Road Surgery and Hampshire & Isle of Wight ICB are working really hard to avoid the closure.”

Difficult

Meanwhile, a restricted service at the Bury Road Surgery has continued with the help of locums and a depleted staff.

According to one of the remaining staff members: “We used to have seven people on reception. Now there are two.

“We have not been told what is happening to our jobs and are as much in the dark as our patients. Making appointments for people is becoming increasingly difficult.”

And a patient registered at the surgery said: “In early January we were promised that a letter telling us what was happening at Bury Road would be sent out within the next few days. Two months later, we are still waiting for it to arrive.

“There are 4,500 patients who beling to Bury Road Surgery. None of us is currently receiving a proper medical service.

“I am a carer looking after a wife with Alzheimer’s and a mentally ill son. One of my friends has motor neurone disease and is physically vulnerable. The way we are all being treated – or rather not treated – is an absolute disgrace and certainly not the fault of the NHS employees who are doing their best in near-impossible circumstances.”

PICTURED: Gosport MP Caroline Dinenage has been using her government connections to press the case for Bury Road Surgery patients