GPs to close rundown branch

A branch surgery which would need repair work costing £36,000 to bring it up to scratch will be closed.
The surgery set to closeThe surgery set to close
The surgery set to close

Dr Tun and Partners will shut their branch surgery in Hindley Green, with all patients instead going to the main site at Hindley Health Centre.

They contacted NHS Wigan Borough Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) last year to express their intention to close it. There were issues with recruiting staff, significant building work was needed, concerns about lone working, a lack of designated car parking and not all appointments were being used.

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A public consultation was carried out, with patients raising concerns about getting to Hindley Health Centre, parking there, the impact on a pharmacy, and GP care for people who move into new houses being built in the area.

But the consultation also found many Hindley Green patients had already used the main surgery, and there were complaints about the lack of appointments at the branch office.

The CCG’s primary care commissioning committee considered issues including:

The branch only has a GP for two-and-a-half hours a day and appointments do not all get booked;

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It is in an old terraced house which is not in a good state of repair and needs work costing £36,750 ;

There is no car parking and problems with accessibility make it difficult for people with some disabilities or who use a wheelchair;

There are problems with recruiting staff to work at the branch and health and safety concerns for staff working alone;

There are 14 other GP practices within two miles of the branch that patients could register with instead.

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Patients from the practice’s patient participation group attended the committee meeting to support the closure, showing photographs of the building and highlighting the limited number of services delivered there.

The committee approved the request to close it – but asked for reassurances from the practice.