Posted: Fri 9th Dec 2016

Assurances Medical Centre Will Not Close After GPs Announce Plans to Terminate Their Contracts

Wrexham.com for people living in or visiting the Wrexham area
This article is old - Published: Friday, Dec 9th, 2016

General Practitioners at a village medical centre have announced they are to terminate their contracts following issues filling vacant posts – however assurances have given that the surgery will not close.

The GP Partners at Ruabon Medical Centre have given notice that they will be terminating their contract with Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board with effect from 31 March 2017.

A letter sent out to patients cites ‘difficulties in the recruitment of partner GPs’ as the reason for their decision.

The medical centre has 9,299 people on its books and serves people from Ruabon and the surrounding areas.

However within the letter sent out by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board assures patients that the medical centre will not close and that there is no need to register with a different GP Practice.

The letter reads: “The Health Board is responsible for ensuring that all patients have access to a GP. We want to reassure you that we are working closely with GPs at Ruabon Medical Centre for some time now to plan how GP services will be delivered from the Practice from 1 April 2017.

“The Health Board is currently advertising for GPs to take over the practice. In the event that the Health Board is unsuccessful in securing a new GP Partnership to take over the management of the practice, Ruabon Medical Centre will be managed by the Health Board from 1 April 2017.

“During this period normal services will continue to be available as usual from now until the end of March 2017, at which time we will have worked with the practice to best plan future services for you and your family.”

The letter concludes: “Over the next few months we will keep you informed of our progress and will respond to any concerns and questions. We welcome your opinion on the future arrangements for GP and primary care services in your area.”

Despite the assurances offered within the letter North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood this week challenged the Cabinet Secretary for Health after Ruabon Medical Centre announced that it will end its contract.

Asking an Urgent Question in the Assembly Chamber this week, Mr Isherwood spoke of the GP crisis facing North Wales and called on the Cabinet Secretary to respond to the latest announcement of a closure in Wrexham.

He said: “This surgery, the Ruabon Medical Centre, is only the latest to announce that it will be ending its NHS contract with the Health Board because it’s unable to fill two vacant doctor posts. Last month, it was the Rashmi practice in Old Colwyn.

“Over the last year, we’ve seen the same in Prestatyn, Rhuddlan, Wrexham, Conwy, and the British Medical Association’s Dr Charlotte Jones, General Practice Committee Chair, has said: ‘Surgeries handing back their contracts to the Health Board is a real time demonstration of how some General Practices are at breaking point and see this as the only solution open to them.’

“Early this year, GPs in North Wales wrote to the First Minister, accusing him of being out of touch with the reality of the challenges facing them. How, therefore, do you respond to the concern expressed by the Royal College of General Practitioners in the Assembly in June this year, that the Multidisciplinary Team Model being introduced instead in North Wales by the Health Board is needed, but it’s based on an overseas model with a higher ratio of GPs to other disciplines, that it will lose the holistic view and continuity provided by GPs, damaging the well-being of patients, and that the Health Board shouldn’t wait for a crisis to step up?

“It should have stepped up well in advance, as should the Welsh Government, given the years of warnings it has received.”

In his response the Health Secretary said ‘we recognise that primary care needs to change and we want to work with partners to deliver that to make sure people receive high-quality primary care,” but added ‘there are significant challenges that are out of our hands.’

A spokesman for the Health Board said: “Ruabon Medical Centre has 9,299 patients. This is a high performing practice, which is very popular and well thought of by patients, and the GPs can take pride in their ability to sustain a high level of service.

“However, they have not been successful in recruiting doctors to replace two full time partners who left the practice earlier this year.

“In light of this the remaining GP partners have taken the decision to end their contract with effect from 31st March 2017.”

The spokesperson added: “The Health Board wants to reassure patients that we are working closely with the GPs at the surgery to determine how services will be delivered from the Practice from 1st April 2017.

“Please be assured that the practice will not be closing and there is no need for patients to register elsewhere.

“We have written to notify patients. A dedicated phone line and email address has been established for patients to voice concerns and have queries answered, and we would also welcome patients opinions on the future arrangements for GP and primary care services in the area. Over the next few months the Health Board will keep patients informed of progress.”

Earlier this year a similar letter announcing that the GPs at Pen Y Maes Surgery in Summerhill were also terminating their contracts, was sent to patients. The surgery was taken over by the Health Board in October, with a spokesperson at the time saying they ‘remain committed to recruiting more GPs on a full time basis’.



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