Steve McCabe MP (Birmingham Selly Oak) has spoken out against the decision to close South Maypole Surgery at the end of March.
The GP Practice which serves people across Druids Heath and the Maypole areas is run by South Doc Services who requested that Birmingham South Central CCG (responsible for South Maypole Surgery) agreed to terminate the contract and close the surgery because of financial difficulties. It appears that questions were first raised about the surgery’s viability in November last year but patients were not told until February after the final decision was made at the end of January.
Local MP Steve McCabe was not informed by the CCG and was instead contacted by angry constituents who were told they need to find a new GP. Questions about what guarantees will be made to ensure every patient is re-registered with a new GP and what help is available for elderly patients and those with long-term and chronic medical conditions still remain.
Steve McCabe (Birmingham Selly Oak) said:
“It is frankly shocking that a CCG can decide to close a GP Practice giving patients less than 8 weeks to find a new GP and without bothering to inform the local Member of Parliament. How many other local GP surgeries are facing closure that we don’t know about?
“People in Druids Heath are facing losing their only Secondary School and now one of their few GP surgeries. People are telling me it is increasingly difficult to get a GP appointment and at the same time they are told to stay away from A&E because of huge pressures on our hospitals. These Tory health reforms have not given patients better choice, they have just made it easier for faceless bureaucrats to close services without consultation or accountability and wasted millions of pounds that could have been spent on frontline services. This is yet another betrayal by a Government that cares little about vital services ordinary folk rely on.”
Are you a patient at South Maypole Surgery? Have you had issues with trying to find a new GP in the local area? Please get in touch to share your concerns. You can email steve on stephen.mccabe.mp@parliament.uk
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