Health chiefs have warned that more doctors’ surgeries could close in Brighton and Hove.
The warning came today (Tuesday 21 July) just six weeks after the sudden closure of Goodwood Court in Hove and less than six months after Eaton Place in Kemp Town shut its doors for the final time.
Brighton and Hove Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) chief executive Geraldine Hoban said: “Although on the surface they were very different cases, the common theme was the financial viability of the practices.
“I think they’re not alone in the city in terms of that. What we have in the city are 45 relatively small practices.”
She said that some of the premises were in a poor condition, with rents that tended to be high.
She added: “Other practices are having conversations about whether we can go on, whether we should merge, whether we should hand back our contracts.
“If we don’t do something quite soon, more practices will go under because they’re not viable.”
And Healthwatch chief executive Frances McCabe said: “There’s a demographic time bomb there.”
She said that there was a shortage of doctors going into general practice.
They were speaking at a meeting of the Brighton and Hove Health and Wellbeing Board, at the Brighthelm Centre, in Brighton.
The board also heard from James Thallon, the medical director of NHS England (South East).
Dr Thallon said that more GP (general practitioner) surgeries had closed in the past three years than in the previous ten.
At the meeting the temporary closure of the Burwash Road surgery in Hangleton was also mentioned. The surgery has reopened but was reported to be seeing patients for just one session a week.
A very large doctors’ surgery was built on the ground floor of the development that replaced the former cinema and bingo hall in Portland Road.
The doctors who WERE supposed to take the space did not and one of these practices (Sackville Road)has instead gone with trying to go into business at a redeveloped Holy Trinity Church where they now have consent to put in an income-generating pharmacy (which could put Boots pharmacy section out of business so we lose Boots in George Street). I do wonder if it will ever happen though.
As far as I know doctors never did go into that brand new, purpose build large surgery in Portland Road. Absolute scandal. Still empty I believe.
Wish Park Surgery is due to move into the new Portland Road, Hove, premises on Friday 21 August.
Nice to know that. Thanks Frank. Wish and Sackville were originally meant to have jointly occupied that surgery.