Over 360 locals have signed a petition in a bid to prevent the closure of Beechgrove GP surgery in Brading and Lake.
Following the planned closure of the Beechgrove Surgeries in Brading and Lake on 31st March 2020,
As first reported by Island Echo, 4,500 people living in Brading and Lake look set to lose their local GP surgery by 31st March 2020. Patients currently look set to be divided between surgeries in Ryde, Sandown, Shanklin, Bembridge and St Helen’s, unless Brading can attract a new GP in time.
The petition, which has been organised by the Brading Residents Association (BRAG) and spearheaded by resident Sue Birch, has at its latest count 362 signatures. Those signing are asking the Isle of Wight Clinical Commissioning Group to provide a GP service in Brading, as well as a pharmacy.
300 of the signatures were personally collected by concerned Brading mother Roisin Mullins, 37, who has a 23-month-old baby. Beechgrove patient Roisin, who runs an Irish dance school in the town said:
“There is a lot of strong feeling here in Brading about losing our GP surgery and being farmed out to other overcrowded practices. People are deeply concerned about the inconvenience, and cost of public transport, the lack of parking and patient overcrowding.
“It is essential that the CCG take note of the views being expressed by patients at Beechgrove and beyond”.
Beechgrove patients were given a deadline of Wednesday 23rd October to respond to the patient survey and express their views, despite not receiving a letter from the practice until Wednesday 9th October, or later. Patients were not advised of the date of the 4th October patient meeting.
BRAG will be submitting their petition signatures to date, but continue to search for more people to sign the petition. Final decisions will be made by the CCG in mid-November.
Roisin added:
“Our message is simple, Brading needs a GP and a pharmacy. Beechgrove has been a wonderful surgery for my family, after experiencing GPs on the mainland Beechgrove was a breath of freshair, with friendly staff that remembered your history, and good appointment availability. It is such a loss to our town. I truly hope we can find a new GP or practice group to take over the surgery in time”.
At the patient meeting on 4th October, which attracted hundreds of patients, it was announced by the CCG and the Isle of Wight NHS Trust that the Island has recently recruited 9 already needed GPs to the Island, however none of them are set to be placed in Brading or Lake. The CCG also confirmed that patient overcrowding will be solved by adding health care professionals, not necessarily by adding GPs.
Anyone interested in signing the ongoing Brading GP and pharmacy petition can find it in locations in Brading, or can contact Brading Residents Association at www.bragiow.co.uk.
Please please don’t close Brading Doctors surgery! We have some wonderful doctors there . Mine is doctor Akundi and nothing is too much of a problem for him to sort out for me . He is an extremely good Doctor .
The other Doctor’s and the nurses and staff are all very kind caring people too .
It is the doctors themselves who are giving up the practice, leaving the CCG and the Isle of Wight NHS Trust the job of finding replacements.