GP practice closure prompts former PM to step in

The closure of a GP practice in the Yorkshire Dales has prompted concern from local residents, forcing them to ask their local MP Rishi Sunak to intervene.

Reeth Medical Centre is due to shut on 29 May after Dr Mike Brookes, who runs the centre with wife Marie, announced his retirement.

Officials from the NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB), which commissions NHS services, said efforts to find a GP to take on the Swaledale practice had failed.

Richmond and Northallerton MP Rishi Sunak said he was working with Upper Dales councillor Yvonne Peacock to find a solution.

"It is disappointing, and surprising, that it has not been possible to find a replacement and that is an issue I wish to get to the bottom of," the former prime minister said.

The ICB stressed that no residents would be left without a doctor, with patients set to transfer to neighbouring practices, including the Central Dales Practice in Hawes and Aysgarth, and Leyburn Medical Practice, as well as practices in Richmond.

An ICB spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that "despite comprehensive efforts no organisation has been able to come forward with a sustainable way to continue running the practice".

It said a range of factors meant finding a GP to run the centre had proved unsuccessful, including the high fixed costs and operational pressures combined with a small patient list.

Officials said there had been a lack of interest from local providers to take over the facility, while some providers, who initially expressed interest, had later withdrawn due to "workforce, premises and financial constraints".

Peacock said she had met with representatives of six Swaledale parishes on Sunday to discuss their concerns.

"We are trying to establish the circumstances that led to this situation and I am pleased to say that everyone is committed to find a solution," she said.

"It is clear how valued the service provided at Reeth is and we want to maintain a locally-based GP service."

Among those to have raised their concern at the loss of the surgery is the Reverend Canon Caroline Hewlett, vicar of Swaledale with Arkengarthdale.

She has called on the ICB and Sunak to "work quickly to find a real solution to this issue".

She said: "This is very urgent, because in a deeply rural area like Swaledale and Arkengarthdale, the presence of services such as shops, a bus and a reliable GP can quickly tip the balance between a thriving community and one that becomes unsustainable."

Local resident Deborah Kerrigan said she lived in a small village about three miles from Reeth with no transport links and was a carer for her 84-year-old father, who had Alzheimer's.

She also had a long-term health condition, she said, so "absolutely" needed regular access to a GP.

"We know that things change and their loss is very sad, but how it's been handled doesn't feel right," she said.

"I'm sure there has been a lot of effort put into replacing the GP, but completely without community involvement."

She said she had been given only eight weeks' notice and thought the minimum should have been "at least three months".

"We're all very frightened and scared about it - the horrible thing is, we don't know quite what we're faced with," she added.

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