Patients at a Burntwood GP surgery scheduled to close next year will be supported in their move to a new facility – but health chiefs say they will not automatically transfer them.
The current practice at the Burntwood Health and Wellbeing Centre is scheduled to shut in March 2024 after notice was served on the provider that the contract would end as planned.
The Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Integrated Care Board’s chief transformation officer, Chris Bird, told a meeting of Lichfield District Council’s overview and scrutiny committee that there was capacity locally for around 5,000 patients currently cared for by the existing facility.
But Cllr Wai-Lee Ho, Conservative member for Highfield ward, asked why the onus was being put on patients to seek out a new surgery.
“When my previous energy supplier went bust I was automatically transferred to another one – that took away the stress and guaranteed no disruption.
“Why can’t this be applied with the Burntwood Health and Wellbeing Centre?”
Cllr Wai-Lee Ho, Lichfield District Council
Mr Bird said that the issue was a complex one and that individuals would be best positioned to identify the best option for them.
“If you look at the patient population, 75% are within two postcodes adjacent to the Burntwood Health and Wellbeing Centre and then there are some who reside in Lichfield, Cannock and other places.
“People register with their nearest practice, but then life goes on and they move house and sometimes they maintain it or sometimes they move to a new one.
“It wouldn’t be for us to tell patients which of the surrounding practices they would be better registered at as it depends on the nature of their own personal circumstances.
“If a particular GP transfers then they may decide to follow them for continuity of care.
“We will work with patients to ensure a smooth transition but it isn’t for the Integrated Care Board to determine which practices patients should move to.”
Chris Bird, Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Integrated Care Board
Mr Bird also told the meeting that while the GP surgery would close, the plan was for the building to remain open as a base for back office functions until a new facility is built at neighbouring Cherry Close in 2025.
He added that guidelines meant a short term extension to the GP contract could not be offered in order to bridge the gap between the closure in 2024 and the new site coming on stream the following year, meaning patients would need to move elsewhere.
But Labour’s Cllr Dave Robertson said he had concerns over how other practices would cope with increased patient numbers in the short term.
“My understanding is that Burntwood has the highest patient to GP ratio in the district already, and that goes alongside the data the council holds that out of 22 wards, the four core Burntwood wards are in the bottom six in terms of access to healthcare.
“People do feel it’s difficult to get appointments. The data suggests Burntwood is a place we should have a lower ratio than elsewhere.
“This dispersal of patients to other practices cannot improve data in terms of people waiting for appointments.”
Dave Robertson, Lichfield District Council
Mr Bird said delays in getting appointments was symptomatic of wider issues in the healthcare sector.
“It is certainly true that some patients do experience challenges in accessing GP surgeries.
“Our GP ratio in Staffordshire is just below the national average but that has come down, we know that it’s given us a challenge because, in part, the demographic of GPs in Staffordshire is older and we’ve not got numbers coming in to replace them.
“There are challenges nationally in terms of recruitment, but there are number of things we are doing to improve access such as recruiting roles such as clinical pharmacists and mental health support workers designed to augment GP capacity.
“We have a range of digital methods such as online and telephone appointments, as well as the development of some services at home.
“There are a range of things we are doing, but fundamentally we need to improve number of GPs we have.”
Chris Bird, Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Integrated Care Board
