Health chiefs have vowed to patients that they will continue fighting for a solution if a village general practice does shut down.
Jan Thomas and Dr Gary Howsam made the plea at a packed first public meeting on Tuesday [March 7] into the possible closure of Priors Field Surgery in Sutton.
The meeting at Brooklands Village Hall comes after a decision to close the surgery, part of Fenland Group Practice [FGP], from March 31 was made last month.
Ms Thomas, chief executive officer of the NHS Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Integrated Care Board [ICB], told patients that another GP provider is still being searched for.
“We’re not in a position to say here is a provider from April 1, but we’re still looking,” she said.
“It’s incredibly tough; we have not got the answer right now, but we’re looking.”
In a statement, FGP said GP partners “who currently hold a contract to deliver services at Priors Field Surgery are taking retirement from the practice and have served notice to terminate their contract.”
Nobody from the FGP nor health secretary Steve Barclay, who addressed the closure situation to health bosses last week, did not attend the meeting.
But Ms Thomas said GPs retired from a contract held at Priors Field Surgery, therefore unable to maintain a contract to deliver services there.
It is unclear why the contract was ended.
Ms Thomas told the audience that the ICB is “struggling to get a certain number of GPs in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough”.
She also highlighted refurbishment issues with the surgery building, such as work on its reception floor, which could hamper chances of finding a new GP provider.
Ms Thomas said: “Perhaps in the next year, we may need to move people to alternative GP practices but that doesn’t mean we will stop trying to find solution for Sutton.”
READ MORE: District council leader weighs in on Sutton Surgery closure
One resident stated that there were alternative premises for a new GP practice in Sutton, which is currently being identified.
Another asked whether FGP are fully responsible for the possible surgery closure, but Dr Howsam, chief clinical improvement officer at the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Integrated Care System [ICS], downplayed these claims.
“Apportioning the blame does not help anybody; it’s a recruitment problem,” he said.
Dr Howsam confirmed that plans to close Priors Field Surgery were first heard last November and said that national GP suppliers are now being sought.
However, he reassured patients that they will still have a GP even if a provider cannot be found by the end of this month.
“We will continue to work to get a solution and if not, people will have to move to another practice on interim basis,” said Dr Howsam.
“It would be disingenuous to tell you there is not a crisis.”
READ MORE: Sutton councillor shocked by Priors Field surgery closure
Dr Howsam believes a long-term solution for the surgery, which serves around 6,000 patients, can be found.
Sandie Smith, chief executive of Healthwatch Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, watched the meeting and was pleased that alternative solutions will be examined.
Meanwhile, Sutton district and county councillor Lorna Dupre, alongside fellow Priors Field Patient Participation Group members Dai Harding and Mags Richardson know more work needs to be done.
Cllr Dupre said: “There are a lot of issues and questions still need to answer.
"But I'm pleased to see there was a commitment by NHS to provide as much as possible by way of GP and primary care services for Sutton and surrounding villages.”
An online meeting on Microsoft Teams is due to take place between 6.30-7.30pm tonight.
This is before an in-person meeting at St Andrew’s Church, High Street, Sutton, CB6 2RH from 6.30-7.30pm on March 9, which anyone can attend.
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