Botley and Kennington: Services 'secured' at GP practices

Services at Botley Medical Centre (pictured) will now be provided by Oxford's 19 Beaumont Street Surgery

An NHS organisation says it has secured GP services at two sites following the departure of the partners.

Dr Aintzane Ballestero and Dr Diana McEwen quit Botley Medical Centre and Kennington Health Centre in March.

Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board (BOB ICB) said two other practices would take over the sites in October.

The board said patient care would not be interrupted. Patients do not need to register with the new providers.

Manor Surgery in Headington will provide services from the Kennington Health Centre site. 19 Beaumont Street Surgery in Oxford will provide its services jointly from the Botley Medical Centre and 19 Beaumont St sites.

BOB ICB said a "small number" of registered patients living outside the catchment areas of the new providers would be registered with other GPs "likely to be closer to home".

'Well-established'

Dr Abid Irfan, director of primary care at the board, said: "We are confident these new arrangements will be welcomed by patients, especially as the new providers are local, well-established, successful practices committed to providing the best possible care for the people they serve."

When quitting, the previous GP partners blamed staff shortages and an increasing workload, saying they would not be able to offer patients the care they deserved in the future.

In June 2021 the practice was placed in special measures after being rated inadequate by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Inspectors found some patients were prescribed medicine without safe checks, as well as omissions in the recording and monitoring of care.

However the CQC's latest inspection report, published in October 2022, rated the practice as good.

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