Councillors renew call to reopen closed GP surgery

The Parnwell Medical Centre was shut in 2022 after the building was impacted by subsidence

Councillors have renewed calls to reopen a GP surgery that has been shut for nearly three years due to subsidence issues with its building.

The Parnwell Medical Centre in Saltersgate, Peterborough, was closed to its 1,700 patients in 2022.

Peterborough City councillors who represent the East ward, where the surgery is located, said they see the closure "as a failure of the surgery to fulfil its contractual duties towards the residents of Parnwell".

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Integrated Care System (ICS), which oversees GPs across the county, said the site was due to reopen on 1 October, but understands further structural issues have kept the premises closed.

Dr Laliwala and Partners, which runs the GP practice, has asked patients to make appointments with other surgeries run by the group, such as Ailsworth Medical Centre and Nightingale Centre in Newborough, with some patients facing travel costs of £40.

Subsidence issues

Dr Laliwala and Partners previously said the building was impacted by subsidence issues caused by tree roots, but they have had to deal with anti-social behaviour and vandalism since the site's closure.

In a joint statement, Labour councillors Shabina Qayyum and Samantha Hemraj said: "Residents are still telling us that they are having to travel miles away to Ailsworth to be seen by a GP and not everyone is offered an appointment at Nightingale.

"The ICS has been in constant communication with us and despite the reassurances given, we have yet to see any sign of the practice opening.

"Whilst we recognise that the ICS is trying to establish the provision of primary care services, it is clear that there is little movement.

"We stand by our residents and can no longer accept the wait and lack of a GP service in the area."

Qayyum said that people living locally were "up in arms" about the closure, adding that elderly residents of a nearby mobile home park who depended upon the surgery were "very angry".

Peterborough's Labour MP Andrew Pakes said the ICS and the surgery owners were "dragging [their] feet" over the site's reopening.

The ICS said the Parnwell GP practice is responsible for completing the works required to safely reopen the site to patients, adding that it continues to regularly meet and engage with the practice's partners, local councillors and the Local Medical Council.

Dr Laliwala and partners have been contacted for a response.