Proposed Closure – Sharoe Green Surgery
Responses to your comments & questions
This will mean increased waiting times.
We believe that by centralising services we will be able to reduce the waiting time as although we will have the same number of staff they will be operating from only two sites. Typically not all appointments slots are used at all sites daily which is a waste of resource.
Not sure how closing one location is going to change availability?
As stated above, typically not all appointment slots used at all sites daily which is a waste of resource. There will be more availability across two sites and it will ensure we are using the clinical team more efficiently and effectively
Sharoe Green Surgery provides a caring environment with human interaction.
The level of care that we provide at all our sites is the same as all the staff work at each of the branches on a rotational basis.
There are no buses to the other sites / No access by bus
The Number 19 bus stops outside Sharoe Green Surgery and drops off outside Finney House Nursing Home which is next door to The Healthcare Centre and these run every 10-15 minutes if you are reliant on public transport.
Having to go to the surgery twice a month to order a prescription and the other surgery is further away / Ordering Prescriptions without internet will be harder
Please speak to one of our reception team regarding our many options for prescription ordering. You do not need to attend surgery to order a prescription.
If the practice management look after their staff maybe they would not leave?
The practice management team have no affect nor control on Doctors requesting to reduce their hours as they reach certain milestones in their career / personal life. If Doctors wish to improve their work life balance by reducing sessions or working closer to home this is in no way a reflection of how the practice looks after staff. There is a national shortage of GP’s and multiple campaigns in place to ensure that we retain the high number of GP’s now approaching retirement age. We do not have the same number of Doctors in training nationally as we have GP’s approaching retirement age so the situation will only get worse unfortunately.
The other surgeries are very far from Sharoe Green Surgery
The Healthcare Centre is 1.4 miles away from Sharoe Green Surgery and Longsands Medical Centre is 1.9 miles away from Sharoe Green Surgery. There are other practices approximately 0.9 and 1.2 miles away from the surgery which you have the option to register with should you feel you are unable to travel.
It will be sad to see the staff go / All the staff are kind and helpful
All staff employed by the practice at this time will be transferred to the other two sites in order to continue to assist patients. The staff all work at each of our branches currently on a rotational basis and this will not change.
Open another Health Centre as a solution?
Unfortunately this would not be a solution or an option as due to the national shortage of Doctors we have been unable to recruit a Doctor to the team. We have been advertising for a period of 2 years so the decision to apply to close the branch has been done with much consideration and we feel is the best option for the practice and our patients.
Why hasn’t the practice written to ALL patients about the closure?
As advised by NHS England with any proposed closure the guidance is that we need to write to 10% of our whole practice population. We have specifically targeted patients from the Sharoe Green branch as it is neither practical nor cost effective to write to 14,000 patients for their opinion on a proposed branch closure that does not affect them.
No blue badge parking for patients with mobility issues at Longsands or The Healthcare Centre
Both alternate sites The Healthcare Centre and Longsands Medical Centre do have access parking. In addition, The Healthcare Centre has a lift and Longsands Medical Centre is a ground floor fully accessible premises. Sharoe Green is the smallest site with limited access parking and does not have a patient lift at the surgery to enable our patients with mobility issues to access the upstairs clinical rooms.
Dr C M Wilson & Partners
Date: 28-08-2019