Knowing that as a result of the pandemic there has been growing concern about GP access across Wrexham, Sarah Atherton MP, formally wrote to the local health board to raise my concerns about GP access.
Firstly, Sarah wrote about the issues many residents have faced at Borras Park Surgery, part of the Hillcrest Medical Centre. The response from the health board highlights the work being done to "stabilise" the situation. She will continue to monitor this and will continue to raise concerns brought to her by residents and users of the practice with the health board, so please do continue to contact her if you have a problem accessing Hillcrest Medical Centre. All concerns Sarah receives are being passed onto the health board's specific MP 'hotline' for consideration, so do pass anything on as it will contribute to the weight of evidence.
Secondly, Sarah wrote to the health board in support of the campaign to stop the closure of the Gresford Surgery, part of the Alyn Family Doctors practice. Again, the response from the health board is below. The letter states that Alyn Family Doctors have now submitted their formal application to permanently close the Gresford branch and that this is being considered by the health board.
BCUHB's position on the closure of the Gresford surgery is that:
"We note the formal application to close this branch. That application contains details of the practice's reasons for wanting to close the branch, an equality impact assessment, and a comprehensive report from the community health council on the patient engagement undertaken by the practice, including the detail of the patient responses received. The practice has also provided responses to the issues raised by patients.
This application is now being reviewed under the Service Change Protocol agreed between the Health Board and the Community Health Council, and will be presented to the Health Board’s Primary Care Panel for consideration following completion of that process. An update will be provided to the November meeting of the Primary Care Panel."
When she next meets with the management of the health board, she will reiterate her support for those that want to see the surgery in Gresford remain open.
