Cheshire and Merseyside NHS shuts down 'unsafe' GP surgery that's 'not fit for purpose'
A GP practice in one part of Merseyside has been permanently closed down.
The decision to terminate health services at Crosby Village Surgery was made after NHS Cheshire and Merseyside ICB decided it was ‘unsafe’ and no longer ‘fit for purpose’.
The report confirming the closure of Crosby Village surgery was evaluated by councillors at Bootle Town Hall last night (October 14). It was presented by Tracy Jeffes who has recently taken up the position of Interim Place Director at Cheshire and Merseyside ICB.
The report stated: “Crosby Village Surgery has been temporarily closed for some time. Following several assessments, this building has been deemed as unsafe and no longer suitable for delivering high quality care to patients.
“As a result, and in agreement with Commissioners, we have received approval in principle to close the building at Crosby Village Surgery permanently, subject to a period of engagement with patients and carers, and wider stakeholders.
“Our patients have been informed that they will continue to be seen at Crossways Practice and Thornton Practice.”
Responding to the report, Cllr David Roscoe said: “We have been talking about the implementation scheme and what’s required for modern GP practices, including accessibility for the elderly demographic and services integrated with other health organisations.
“This obviously seems to go the other way from that because we’re taking away a facility which has served a particular demographic in a densely populated area.
“We get many complaints or comments from people who’ve been relocated to the other surgeries and I’m just wondering how confident are we that we’ve got the the infrastructure in place, or will have the infrastructure in place, to meet the sorts of demands that we were talking about?
“Is there any updates about getting some sort of health facility in that area, particularly located around Crosby village?”
Tracy Jeffes said: “This particular surgery was in a poor condition and had been identified as […] not fit for purpose for a future modern general practice.
“So I think when the provider wished to close it, it did seem a reasonable decision based on the condition of the facility.
She added: “At present, there isn’t a particular scheme [planned] in Crosby. As we discussed previously, there has been a limited amount of investment or capital investment available.
“I have to be honest, that has been a challenge – to improve the quality of the estate – but we’ve been trying our best to to bring investment in, to bring capital in where we can, and we’ll continue to refresh our estate plans.”