Eltham Palace Surgery was forced to close its GP service last week amid concerns for patient care and poor governance.
The Healthier Greenwich Partnership made the decision to close the service last Friday following the cancellation of authority to operate as a GP service. It’s thought that concerns from patients and poor governance were key factors in the decision.
Patients at the meeting were sad to see the state in which the surgery was in and open to welcoming a new provider of the service when they met face to face in May this year.
Rob Lyon, 79 and his wife Wendy, 74, who used the hospital for physio said they fear the conditions staff work in at Eltham.
Mr Lyon said: “From what we hear and read, it’s known to have a very toxic working environment.
“It must have been hellish working there.”
The married couple also said: “There’s definitely a concern for those who will now have to find somewhere else to go.
“It’s difficult to find a new GP when we’re in such a densely populated area.”
The Care Quality commission (CQC) found several arguments for why the Eltham Palace Surgery has been poorly governed.
It found issues regarding patient follow up, staff not reviewing patients in line with national guidelines, complaints about staff well-being and negligence in following on from patient complaints.
The CQC has a backlog of concerns about the GP partners ability to work together dating back to May 2023.
A patient who did not want to be named said: “I should think patients will be incredibly affected as we’re lacking doctors’ surgeries at the moment.
“A lot of people in this area are not going to be in the catchment area for other surgeries.”
The patient also feels that better quality training would be better than a closure as she is impressed by the service.
“I used the service for a blood test and had a really good experience.
“Surely governance issues are something to be worked on, not result in the services closing.”
After the closure was announced to take place, the surgery sent letters to their patients about next steps and urged them to register elsewhere as soon as possible. Eltham Palace Surgery also provided a list of alternative GPs.
A comment from Eltham Palace Surgery on the NHS website read: “Our priority now is to make sure all patients continue to have access to high-quality primary medical services. We are confident that other GP surgeries in Greenwich will be able to accommodate patients currently registered at Eltham Palace Surgery.”
Featured image credit: Teddie Barrett
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