A GP practice caring for 4,000 patients in the West Midlands has closed down following a bankruptcy order.
Hawes Lane Surgery in Rowley Regis closed suddenly on Thursday last week.
Pulse was told that ‘a bankruptcy order was made’ against the surgery and that Black Country ICB was informed that actions were taken to annul the order, but that this was not concluded.
On Wednesday last week official receivers took steps to immediately close the practice with a one-day notice.
A message sent to patients last week said that ‘due to unforeseen circumstances’, Hawes Lane Surgery is ‘now permanently closed’ and that services will temporarily be moved to another surgery, Portway Family Practice.
West Bromwich MP Sarah Coombes said she ‘asked for assurances’ that the ICB ‘are monitoring the financial situation’ of other practices so that ‘we do not see a repeat of this situation at other local GPs’.
‘The staff at Hawes Lane, some of whom have served for a very long time, have also been severely affected by this closure,’ she added.
She said: ‘There is a lot of fear that this will make it even more difficult to get a GP appointment locally.
‘The local NHS team were given short notice of the closure but they have put a plan in place to support patients.’
The ICB’s director of primary care Dr Mona Sidhu said: ‘As an ICB, we are aware of the recent closure of Hawes Lane Surgery in Rowley Regis.
‘The safety and wellbeing of patients remains our top priority, and we are currently working through plans to ensure patients registered at the practice continue to have good access to GP services in their local area.
‘Patients who have an urgent health concern should contact Portway Family Practice while this process is on-going.
‘It’s important that patients continue to come forward for any care and support they require during this time.’
Yesterday, BMA GP Committee for England chair Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer said the announced 6% pay increase for GPs ‘will not pause the closures of GP surgeries’.
The ICB, who should have oversight, should be investigated and then to provide a publicly available transparent explanation to see who was responsible for not taking some remedial action in my opinion, to elucidate how this was allowed to occur under its watch. If not, what is the point of these relatively unmonitored very highly paid, resource hungry management /administration quangos in my view?
Yeah, how many turned a blind eye and how much did they make? I bet it was all “legal” too.
At least the ICN is concerned about the patients. Don’t worry about the doctors who have become bankrupt or might never be able to get a mortgage or car ever again, likely through no fault of their own. This is exactly why no work should be done for free and goodwill should die completely , because the NHS as a whole don’t really care about the people who deliver the service. As long as the patient can get an appointment with their GPs (not secondary care of course).