THOUSANDS of patients in Brownsover face another year’s wait for a new GP surgery, after plans for a new facility were delayed until 2017.
NHS bosses said a new surgery, which they initially told residents would be up and running by the autumn of this year, will not begin construction until at least 2017.
The area has been without a surgery since last April, when Brownsover Medical Practice and its sister surgery Albert Street Medical Centre closed down.
The Brownsover Patient Action Group (BPAG) says over 10,000 residents remain without local medical cover.
A spokesman said: “The continuing delays due to slow decision making and new bureaucratic processes by NHS England mean around 10,000 plus residents in Brownsover and the North of the town continue to be left without local GP medical services for even longer.
“A large section of our community in the north of the town are left without local GP services within the community and continue to have to travel some distance to access these services.
“The BPAG has written to NHS England to make a strong representation and voice its extreme disappointment on the unacceptable way the whole matter is being handled by NHS England locally.”
Rugby and Bulkington MP Mark Pawsey said the lack of progress on the new surgery was ‘unacceptable’.
He said: “Firm assurances were made by NHS England last year that a new surgery would be open by this autumn.
“Residents in Brownsover have been promised the new facility that they demand, and deserve, for over ten years.
“I have written to the Secretary of State for Health on an urgent basis asking him to look into this situation. I am also seeking urgent meetings with Ministers within the Department of Health to help speed up the delivery of the new surgery and I will continue to work with local residents, and the Brownsover Patients Action Group, and do all that I can to ensure work on the new facility begins as soon as possible.”
David Williams, Locality Director for NHS England (West Midlands) said they were looking at all options to ensure the new surgery met the increase in patient numbers in the area.
He said: “We are currently focusing on finalising our business case. Once this has been done, NHS Property Services will be in a position to decide how the Brownsover scheme will be delivered.
“We continue to work with the Brownsover Patient Action Group (BPAG) and value their input. We will keep BPAG updated on the discussions taking place with regard to an additional proposed temporary facility in Brownsover.”
