Drug addicts make Peterborough surgery 'too dangerous'

GP Shabina Qayyum described drug addicts shooting up nearby and needles everywhere

A city surgery is to close because drug addicts and prostitutes in the area had made it "simply too dangerous" for doctors to work there, a GP has said.

Dr Shabina Qayyum, of the Burghley Road practice, Peterborough, told a meeting there had been "numerous incidents".

The 1,800 patients will be transferred to a surgery 1.7 miles (2.7km) away.

The NHS clinical commissioning group said the closure on 25 January was due to "short-term concerns relating to heating and hot water systems".

Burghley Road is a branch of the Dogsthorpe Medical Centre, where the patients will now be treated.

Cambridgeshire Police said it had received three calls from the Burghley Road surgery over the past year.

Ward councillor Mohammed Jamil criticised the clinical commissioning group for not spending money to upgrade the building

As reported by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Dr Qayyum told a Cambridgeshire Police panel meeting: "There are drug addicts shooting up in telephone booths and wanting to use the toilets in the surgery... needles are littered everywhere.

"We have a plethora of patients who come to our door, vulnerable children, mental health sufferers and we felt that they are at risk."

She added there had been a "growth in the numbers of prostitutes using the area" and "nurses are refusing to work there any more".

Ch Insp Nick Church agreed the area was "a hotspot for crime", but added an operation in the area to tackle drugs, talk with sex workers and increase safety had been running since 2018.

Ward councillor Mohammed Jamil criticised the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) for closing the practice down "without consulting ward councillors and residents".

A CCG spokeswoman said "short-term concerns relating to their heating and hot water systems" impacted on patient care.

She added patients from the Dogsthorpe and Burghley Road surgeries will eventually be moved to the Nightingale Health Centre, which is being built on Western Avenue.