Fears for 'overwhelmed' Wigan village health services amid more homes plans

He says the population boom in Standish over the past decade, after almost 2,000 new homes have sprung up, has left local GP practices operating “near full capacity” and warns “the additional increase in patient numbers could overwhelm these services, reducing the quality of care provided to both new and existing patients”.

It comes just a year after the former lead GP partner at Standish Medical Practice complained that the huge increase in patient numbers from new developments had led to patients struggling to get access to the healthcare they need.

And earlier this year, staff at the surgery twice appealed publicly for an end to verbal attacks by frustrated patients who face up to six weeks for an appointment.

In submissions to a planning application for 57 further homes, Jonathan Kerry, Interim Deputy Place Lead (Wigan) at NHS Greater Manchester, says the proposal “raises significant concerns regarding the capacity of local GP services to accommodate the influx of new residents” and adds “this surge in residents will place additional pressure on existing GP services, potentially leading to longer waiting times for appointments and a strain on medical resources”.

The population of Standish has increased hugely since a swathe of housing developments was agreed over the last decade, with around 2,000 new homes built, under construction or in the planning pipeline, swelling the population by around a fifth.

As part of the application process for the Persimmon Homes development, Mr Kerry says: “Standish Medical Practice in particular has seen an increase in patient registrations nearing approx 12 per cent during the last few years (12k to 13.5k).”

In an emotional message to patients last year, lead GP at the practice for 14 years, Dr Nadia Ghalayini, said the situation became unsustainable even before that.

Dr Ghalayini, who resigned several months later citing other reasons, said: “People seem to have forgotten that with Standish growing so quickly the demand on our service was becoming unsustainable even prior to March 2020,” she wrote.

“Ten years ago we looked after 10,000 patients. We now look after almost 13,400 patients with less GP hours. Ten years ago we had seven GP partners. We now have three GP partners.” She added: “The relentless increase in the building of new homes in Standish means a relentless increase in the demand for our services.”

There have been 149 objections to the application for the new homes on Pepper Lane and Wigan councillors are set to decide on it soon. Mr Kerry says of the proposals: “Additional patients will require more resources, including medical staff, administrative support and medical supplies. Ensuring adequate resource allocation to handle the increased demand will be crucial to maintaining service quality.” He calls for more medical infrastructure investment in the Standish area and community health initiatives to mitigate another housing development in the village.

A spokesperson for the village’s neighbourhood forum, Standish Voice, which is opposing the new development said: “Wigan Council cannot ignore this very stark warning from the NHS in its own borough. The relentless growth in homes in Standish has been totally unsustainable in many areas of village life, leading to increased congestion and plummeting standards of GP services. This new development will only add to that.

“For Wigan Council to agree to this application would be a dereliction of duty – failing the people of Standish whom they claim to represent. The only thing they can do is to ask the developer to give a very modest amount of money which will, at best, refit the waiting room at our medical centre. It will not address the huge gaping hole in primary care services hollowed out by a surge in our population and a reduction in clinicians, who have left due to the situation not being addressed for several years.”

Standish Voice also objects to the plan – for an area of meadows – on a number of other grounds. The spokesperson said: “There has been too much housing too quickly in Standish and infrastructure and services have failed to keep up with the huge population increase over the past nine years.

“This scheme will add to congestion in the centre of Standish, which by the council’s own measures is at full capacity – although the highways reports for this new development did not even model this as they said it was at the edge of the village. This scheme would reduce biodiversity and erode further the habitat of endangered species such as great crested newt and toad, which Persimmon admits are on the site. The road layout is dangerous, being on a blind bend, with Pepper Lane already a fast road from the M6 which is regularly subject to speeding.

“This application is a clear breach of Standish Neighbourhood Plan policy, passed at referendum by 93% of the population in 2019, which clearly states that it “is demonstrably evidenced that further housing development can be accommodated across the full range of transport, health, education, open space, community and utility infrastructure without detriment to the character and wellbeing of Standish as a viable sustainable place to live, work and visit”.

“If Wigan Council agrees to this development it will drive a coach and horses through its claim to champion local community involvement in decision making and open the door to even more unsustainable development. There needs to be a further pause on any development in Standish until our infrastructure is adequate for the housing we already have or is being built.”