WESTBURY GPs are facing a growing workload as patients from Warminster are being sent to see doctors at the White Horse Health Centre.
Concerns are growing following the announcement that Smallbrook Surgery in Warminster is now only open part-time and some of its 4,000 patients are being sent to see already under pressure GPs in Westbury.
MP for South West Wiltshire, Andrew Murrison, says the arrangement will put extra pressure on patient waiting lists. Chair of local healthcare group Sensible Thinking on Patients (STOP), Erica Watson, thinks the move is bad news for both towns.
Westbury Group Practice, which runs both surgeries, reduced Smallbrook’s opening hours on 6th March. Due to ‘unforeseen GP shortages’, it is now open for just 13.5 hours per week, and patients are triaged over the phone.
Outside of the three half-days the surgery is open, its patients are told they can attend Westbury’s White Horse Health Centre. The arrangement is intended to last for three months.
Andrew Murrison MP told White Horse News, “Primary care is meant to be accessible. This arrangement isn’t, and will put pressure on existing patient lists. The arrangement is acceptable only as a temporary expedient. A practice has to be found that is able to provide a comprehensive service to Warminster’s growing population.”
Erica Watson is the chair of STOP, which was started to protest against the demolition of Westbury’s hospital, but now campaigns for improved healthcare in the town.
Erica said, “This will impact Westbury people because there will be fewer appointments available for them, and Warminster people because they’ll have to travel much further to see a doctor.
“There are already concerns that it’s difficult to get an appointment with a doctor in Westbury, and people have complained to us of waiting a long time to get through on the phone. Of course doctors have to make sure services are safe and cost effective, but this isn’t the best solution for patients. It’s not a good idea for Westbury Group Practice to take on more work than it can cope with.”
Both Dr Murrison and Erica Watson said the responsibility of supervising the practice lies with the NHS’s Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).
Westbury Group Practice admitted it will be under more pressure but said it can cope.
A statement to White Horse News said, “There will be an impact on our patients. We are only 2.5 weeks into the new system and are recruiting accordingly and will be able to cope with the additional pressure. These recruitments will be to add capacity to our triage system which will be the first point of contact for patients.
“Of course we are still trying very hard to recruit GPs. It is our intention to do all we can to provide an efficient service to all our patients at a level which is safe and appropriate within the resource available. Closing [Smallbrook Surgery] will be a last resort, but we are trying all we can to ensure we are able to meet the demand.”
A spokesperson for Wiltshire CCG said, “NHS England and Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group are confident that the steps taken by Smallbrook Surgery are the right ones, in order to ensure that all options are explored over the next few months and to make sure GP services for patients in Warminster are maintained.”
