MP wants clarity over centre
WHEELER: PATIENTS NEED TO KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON AT THREATENED MEDICAL FACILITY
SOUTH Derbyshire MP Heather Wheeler is “dissatisfied” with healthcare bosses over the potential closure of Rosliston Medical Centre, saying: “Patients need to know what is going on.”
She sent a letter to the East Staffordshire Clinical Commissioning Group in July, voicing her concerns about the centre and finally received a reply last month. But she says some of her questions were left unanswered.
Concerns over the medical centre have been increasing in recent months due to issues with IT, the poor infrastructure of the building and lack of recruitment of new GPs.
The centre has already seen its pharmacy close because of the problems, while a protest petition from worried patients has gathered more than 800 signatures.
Mrs Wheeler said: “While it was good to finally have a reply from the CCG, I do not feel it gave me answers Heather Wheeler MP, left, Sally Young, director of corporate services, governance and communications at East Staffordshire CCG, and Suzanne Passey and Gillian Holland of Rosliston and Cauldwell WI at the handing over a petition against the proposed closure of Rosliston Medical Centre
to all the questions I posed earlier in the year.
“Two very concerning public meetings, closure of the medical centre’s pharmacy and uncertainty as to when the facility is open at all has left patients in a difficult position.
“Patients at Rosliston Medical Centre need to know what is going on.”
There are reportedly three options on the table: closing the centre and expanding services at Stapenhill Medical Centre; cutting services at Rosliston and Stapenhill, or doing nothing and closing the centre when necessary on a day-by-day basis.
Mrs Wheeler added: “It really is vital for a full and fair public consultation
to be held so that patients can have their say on what they want for the future of the medical centre and I hope the CCG will be able to provide some clarity as to the way forward this time.”
Newly-elected Linton councillor Dan Pegg, who replaced Mrs Wheeler’s husband Bob following his death earlier this year, has also thrown his weight behind the campaign to keep the centre open.
He said: ““Residents have had little communication from doctors at the surgery since those public meetings earlier in the year and they want to be able to have their say, rather than being kept in the dark.
“I look forward to working with patients and Heather to continue the campaign to retain a medical facility for the good of Rosliston and surrounding villages.”
Mrs Wheeler has since contacted the accountable officer at the CCG, Marcus Warnes, regarding her ongoing concerns and says she is now awaiting another reply.
Dr Philip Needham, senior partner at Rosliston, previously said in a letter to patients it is the centre’s “ambition is to ensure that all our patients can access quality GP services”.
However, he added: “But the issues we are facing at the branch surgery are impacting on this.”