More than half of Lancashire GP surgeries 'at risk of closure'

People in Lancashire are at risk of losing their GP surgeries due to increasing budget pressures

More than half of GP surgeries in Lancashire say they could close within two years because of budget pressures.

Seven of the region's practices consider themselves under "immediate" threat of closing down, according to a new survey.

A further 94 surgeries fear they will shut in the next 18 to 24 months.

The Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB) said it recognised the "significant" pressures faced by GPs.

The survey, part of a report published by the Consortium of Lancashire and Cumbria Local Medical Committees (LMCs), found that Blackpool, Blackburn with Darwen, East Lancashire and Morecambe Bay all have surgeries that class themselves as at immediate risk of closure.

Chief executive officer of the LMCs, Dr Adam Janjua, told the BBC that he had "never seen the situation as dire as it is now".

He warned that if the situation continued, people could lose access to their GP surgeries completely.

'We need to be realistic'

The report suggests that the pressure posed by rising costs, including wages, comes alongside strain caused by GPs having to shoulder some of the burdens on the broader health and care system.

"We need to be realistic about the fact that general practice is being asked to do so much more than it did five years ago," Dr Janjua told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Blackburn has the highest proportion - 12.5% - of services that consider themselves at immediate risk.

At least 40% of the surgeries in all areas of Lancashire believe they could be under threat within two years, with Chorley and South Ribble registering 83%.

The LMC consortium calculates that 1.1m patients out of a population of 1.8 million people are at an "immediate [or] medium-term risk of losing their GP surgery".

Craig Harris, chief operating officer for the Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB, said he was "particularly concerned" that some practices felt they were under immediate threat and that the board would "continue to work closely with our LMC colleagues to carefully consider and discuss the concerns raised".

The Department for Health and Social Care did not respond to a request for comment.