GP surgery given notice to leave premises, MPs told

Councillors Phil Turner (left) and Andy Barnes, along with local Justine Norris, have been collecting the signatures of patients opposed to the GP surgery's closure

A GP surgery has been given just months to leave its premises by its landlord, an MP said.

The South Green Surgery, in Great Burstead, near Billericay in Essex, must move by the end of March, local Conservative MP Richard Holden told Parliament.

Locals could be moved to another surgery 1.6 miles (2.6km) away, which Justine Norris - who has been registered at the practice for 31 years - said could be "very difficult" for some.

NHS Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Board (MSEICB) said it would consider the impact on patients before any decision about the surgery's permanent closure was made.

Richard Holden, the Conservative MP for Basildon and Billericay, raised South Green Surgery's planned closure in Parliament

Holden told MPs: "South Green Surgery in my constituency has been given notice by its landlord that it has to move by the end of March next year."

He asked Health Secretary Wes Streeting: "Will the secretary of state meet me to see what we can do to ensure that other facilities can be provided if available, or to do the best for those local patients?"

Streeting told Holden it was a matter for local NHS bosses.

William Guy, MSEICB's director of primary care, said South Green Surgery was applying to merge with The New Surgery and then to close the South Green Surgery site, because of a "lack of appropriate alternative premises" nearby.

About 2,000 people have signed a petition against the closure, according to Ms Norris, who said several new housing developments could be built locally.

"There's only a handful of surgeries in the area and there's going to be thousands of people trying to get into all of them and we're already waiting for appointments," the 54-year-old added.

Andy Barnes, who represents Billericay East on Basildon Borough Council, said the authority was working with the NHS, housing developers, and Holden to find a solution.

"We might be able to work with developers to facilitate a new surgery being built on one of those new developments, but that's not going to happen straight away," the Conservative councillor told BBC Essex.

"We have started to explore very early conversations around that but I don't want to promise people that's something that will happen before March, when the surgery is due to close."