STUDLEY has been hit by a fresh blow with the announcement that the doctors’ surgery at the village health centre is to close.
Drs Margaret Buckley, Deepika Dandamudi and Lars Grimstvedt have all given six months’ notice to South Warwickshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) that they will be terminating their contracts.
The CCG now has to consider whether GP services can continue at the High Street site through another provider or whether to ‘disperse’ patients to other practices and has launched a public consultation exercise to gauge residents’ views.
The closure announcement comes just a week after Lloyds Bank shut its doors for the last time in the village, following in the footsteps of Natwest which pulled out earlier this year.
County Councillor Clive Rickhards (Lib Dem, Studley) said: “This is really bad – it’s the best GP practice I have had in my lifetime and will put severe pressure on the other surgery in the village when it closes.”
His colleague, district Coun Hazel Wright (Lib Dem, Studley & Sambourne) added: “This is really disappointing and I am seeking a one-to-one meeting with the CCG to find out what can be done.
“People build up a very personal relationship with their doctor and for that bond to be broken is not good.”
Doctors’ leaders say there is a national shortage of GPs due to pressure of work with at least 10,000 more needed to fill the gaps left by those quitting the profession.
A spokesperson for the CCG said: “At this stage no decision has been made but we have started to contact patients for their opinion on the future of the service and are keen to hear from as many practice patients as possible.
“We want to reassure all practice patients that our priority is to ensure they continue to receive high-quality GP services.”
A drop-in session has been arranged for people to discuss the matter for Thursday, August 11 from 4pm to 6pm.
Patients can also complete the online survey at www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/YWZMTMF .
