Search for replacement GP service for Highley

Highley Medical Centre was placed in special measures in January

A Shropshire GP practice is set to hand back its NHS contract, prompting fears the village could lose the surgery.

Highley Medical Centre, near Bridgnorth, was put in special measures after a damning report by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in January.

NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, which commissions GP services, said it was told on Tuesday of the operators' decision to pull out.

The NHS said its aim was to keep a GP surgery in Highley.

The operator has agreed to stay on until 31 March and commissioners said "extensive work" was being carried out to find a "sustainable solution".

"Our work will prioritise access to General Practice services for those people affected by this announcement and try to secure an option which remains in Highley," Claire Parker, Director of Partnerships and Place at NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, said.

The CQC report in January followed an inspection in November 2021.

It had slipped from an overall "good" rating in 2016, under a different operator, to "inadequate".

At the time, inspectors particularly raised concerns about safeguarding procedures, training, blood test monitoring and the organisation of medicines and equipment in the event of a medical emergency.