Campaigners hope new NHS plan will save surgery

Charlotte Angell organised the petition to save the surgery in Higham

Campaigners fighting to save their local GP surgery believe the government's 10-year plan for the NHS will help them succeed.

Highparks Medical Practice in north Kent has applied to close one of the four sites it operates from, in Higham, which it said is financially unsustainable.

A campaign and petition have been launched to save it.

The practice said closing one surgery was the only way to safeguard its three other sites.

On 2 July Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer launched a series of wide ranging reforms to the NHS, to be carried out over the next decade.

Charlotte Angell, who started the petition to save Higham surgery, said: "It mentions communities and villages having direct access to care.

"I'm hopeful that means, whether the surgery does or does not close, there will be a replacement service."

The Higham surgery is threatened with closure

The application to close the surgery will now be considered by the NHS Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board (ICB).

Ms Angell said she and fellow campaigners would be lobbying the board.

"I'm hopeful" she said, "the fight isn't over.

"I just hope the ICB give us the time we need to be able to express our concerns and take them on board."

Highparks also runs surgeries in Cliffe Woods, Cliffe and Wainscott.

'Struggled with challenges'

A spokesperson for Highparks Medical Practice said: "All four sites work together as a single practice serving over 15,000 patients, who can be seen at any location regardless of which site is nearest their home.

"Both this government and the previous one have prioritised general practice at scale. The latest plans focus on large health hubs like the Healthy Living Centres in Medway but do not address how to sustain small rural surgeries like ours.

"As a partnership, we have struggled with these challenges for years and are saddened by the need to close one site. Despite extensive discussions with the local Integrated Care Board and political representatives, no alternative has been found.

"Unless the government addresses rural primary care challenges, practices like ours will continue to face difficult decisions. This decision safeguards the future of the practice and the care of over 15,000 patients."