COVENTRY MPs have hit out at plans that could see the closure of four GP surgeries.
The Coventry and Rugby Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) announced this month that four surgeries’ contracts are set to expire next March.
The CCG has informed residents it will be putting the contracts on the market which could result in the practices closing, or being re-opened by another provider.
The practices affected include Stoke Aldermoor Surgery in The Barley Lea and Foleshill Surgery in Station Street West – both operated by Malling Health.
Broad Lane Surgery and the City of Coventry Healthcare Centre – both run by Virgin Care – also face uncertain futures.
The four surgeries cater to nearly 17,000 patients.
Now two Coventry MPs have called for measures to prevent their closure.
Each surgery operator has a time-limited Alternative Provider Medical Services (APMS) contract.
This enables commissioning of services from non-NHS bodies such as private or voluntary providers of primary care.
Coventry North East MP Colleen Fletcher said: “I hope that contracts of this kind are phased out of the NHS as they do nothing to help long-term planning of health services in the city and can cause unnecessary worry when the contracts are due for renewal.
“It is important that if no provider comes forward that the CCG have plans in place to ensure that these surgeries do not close.”
Coventry South MP Jim Cunningham said: “The internal marketisation of our NHS is bad for patients.
“This uncertainty around who, if anyone, will provide GP services in parts of Coventry in the future is not what our NHS should be about.
“I would urge the CCG to focus on patients and commit to maintaining these surgeries as soon as possible.”
The CCG’s website states: “There is the possibilitiy that your GP Practice may close in March 2020 and we would support you to find another GP in your local area.”
Chief strategy and primary care officer for the CCG Jenni Northcote said: “We are committed to ensuring that all our patients have access to high-quality general medical care.
“As part of our initial work to understand what our local populations in the area needed, we heard from over one hundred patients from the four practices.
“One of the things that they told us was that having GP services which are easy to access is important to them, and this formed part of our decision to go ahead and continue the process of retaining service delivery in the area.”
More information on local GP practices and services can be found here.
