GP surgery to close over safety concerns

A report to Suffolk County Council previously found that Boxford Mill Surgery's building was unfit for purpose

A village GP surgery will close in four months over safety concerns, an NHS care board said.

Hadleigh Boxford Group Practice applied to permanently close the Boxford Mill Surgery in Boxford, Suffolk.

The NHS Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board (ICB) approved the application on Thursday due to "patient and staff safety" and to focus on services at the group's branch in Hadleigh.

Boxford resident Colin Parr said it meant patients would carry out "several hundred more journeys a month" by road.

"There's a huge cost to the community and that's if you can actually do it, given that if you don't have transport of your own and can't drive, you are reliant on a bus service which at the moment we have to fight year on year to keep - it's not guaranteed."

Ed Garrett said the decision had been made after "careful consideration of the facts" provided by patients and staff

The ICB said the decision had been difficult for GP partners.

It said the practice had considered expanding the site, but it was not possible due to space limitations.

Safety concerns for staff and patients included:

• A lack of wheelchair access

• Blocked drains

• Sewage smells

• Rewiring needed

• A need for improved infection control facilities

A report to Suffolk County Council in January concluded the Boxford building was run down.

The practice said that 87% of appointments for residents living in the village, and surrounding the village, were already carried out at its Hadleigh branch.

Less than 40% of Boxford appointments were booked by the villagers, it added.

The practice, supported by the ICB, will prepare a detailed plan to address some of the issues raised by residents before a scheduled closure in June.

Ed Garrett, chief executive of the ICB, said GP practices had to "evolve and adapt".

"We understand that the community in Boxford will be disappointed, but the committee was clear that the site would neither be sustainable or safe for the future," he added.

"We will now work closely with the practice to ensure its patients are well supported for the smooth transition of services to the main Hadleigh site."