STUDLEY Health Centre shut its doors for the final time on Friday (December 2) after a bitter few months which left patients and doctors angry over the handling of the situation.
The closure had intended to take place on December 31, but ‘due to unforeseen circumstances’ South Warwickshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) said the closure plan had been moved forward.
The surgery was the smallest in the CCG, catering for 2,000 patients, about half the size of many other practices.
Lead GP at the High street centre, the highly respected Dr Margaret Buckley, had previously told a parish council meeting that current health thinking was that ‘big is beautiful’ and that despite the doctors coming up with many options to continue to practice her and her colleagues, Deepika Dandamudi and Lars Grimstvedt, had been left with no option but to resign.
The closure has forced patients, many who had been with the practice for decades, to look elsewhere for medical cover, with many going to the Pool Road Practice in Studley.
There is a national shortage of general practitioners and although the CCG had gone through the exercise of trying to fill the vacancies created by the resignations it was always unlikely to succeed.
The GP partners at Studley Health Centre, had previously told the Redditch Standard said: “The decision to terminate our contract to run the practice was a very difficult one. We had explored all other options available before taking this action. It has been a privilege for us and our staff to serve our patients. We would like to thank our patients for the loyalty that they have shown us and the good relationships we have built with them over the years.”
