GPs under strain as Melksham keeps growing

WORRIES are growing that Melksham doesn’t have enough doctors to look after the town’s growing population.

The concerns come after  the town’s biggest surgery, Giffords, suspended pre-booked appointments. Due to what the surgery calls “unprecedented staff shortages due to illness” patients can only see a GP by calling on the day they wish to be seen. No pre-booked or online appointments can be made “for the time being.”

The news comes at a time when a local campaign group claims the town doesn’t have enough doctors to care for the number of registered patients.

Melksham Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group (MNPSG) – the group putting together Melksham’s neighbourhood plan – says the town should have the equivalent of one full-time doctor for every 1,724 patients, but actually has more like one per 2,043.

The town’s population is growing faster than expected and there are concerns about how doctors will cope in the future, says the group.

MNPSG claims that Giffords Surgery and Spa Medical Centre – which between them take over 25,000 of the 28,200 patients locally – only have one doctor working full-time out of the 18 serving the town. The group says doctors at the two surgeries work the equivalent of 12 full-time doctors.

Giffords and Spa Medical Centre both declined to comment on the concerns.

Extremely concerned

Wiltshire NHS says the GP shortage is in line with a national crisis but local people are not satisfied.

Brian Warwick, well-known campaigner for older people’s rights told Melksham News, “I’m extremely concerned about these findings. The majority of people wanting to see doctors are older or vulnerable and it is unfair to put them in danger.

“It’s difficult to contact surgeries by phone and people might give up if they can’t get through. People have a right to see a doctor.

“I want to know what Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group – the group responsible for the NHS in the county – is doing about this. What I’ve heard from them so far has been completely inadequate. I don’t believe leaving it to individual practices which seems to be their policy is the best solution; we urgently need a co-ordinated and active response across Wiltshire.”

Swamped

MNPSG volunteer and former town councillor Nick Westbrook said, “Local GPs are working hard and are adopting many new practices, but they are being swamped by the recent increase in local population and the deluge of new houses.

“Figures show that 28,200 patients were registered with Melksham GP surgeries at the end of 2015 – this number is almost the predicted population of Melksham for the year 2021.”

Over 1,600 new houses are currently in various stages of planning and building around the town, and more are expected to come.

There were plans to expand the town’s third practice – St Damian’s Surgery – at the new health and wellbeing centre at Melksham House. However, progress has been stalling on the project for years and its future is unclear.

A spokesperson for the local branch of the NHS, Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) said, “The issue is not restricted to Melksham.  The NHS is under considerable financial pressure and the challenges, particularly to workforce within GP practices, is very serious.

“It is up to individual practices to ensure the number of sessions they provide meets the needs of their patient population.

“However, NHS Wiltshire CCG,  NHS England and Wiltshire Council continue to work together to ensure that services are robust and resilient to meet the needs of the Wiltshire population now and into the future.”

Independent healthcare watchdog, Healthwatch Wiltshire, says it is aware of a problem countywide and advises concerned patients to report their concerns.

Booking suspended

Giffords on Spa Road says on its website, “Due to unprecedented staff shortages due to illness we have had to suspend the online appointment booking for the time being and suspended pre-booked appointments from August 2016.

“We will not be making any pre-booked GP appointments from August 2016, all patients will need to ring the surgery on the day they wish to be seen and they will be triaged by a healthcare professional.

“Home Visits will be severely restricted and may be suspended altogether.

“Please use over the counter medications, or advice from a Pharmacist or NHS Choices before contacting the surgery.

“We will continue to deliver the service to the best of our abilities and we would appreciate your continued support during this difficult time.”

St. Damian’s Surgery says it usually holds at least 160 GP appointments per week, as well as urgent appointments every day and a range of emergency nurse appointments.

Dr Kate Parker, partner at Bradford on Avon and Melksham Health Partnership, which runs St. Damian’s told Melksham News, “There is a national shortage of GPs and an increased workload because of an ageing population and pressures on secondary care being transferred to primary care.

“We are closely monitoring demand on a weekly basis and nurse practitioners are supporting GPs in managing their workload. Patients can attend our surgery in Bradford on Avon as well if they want to.

“We still have the capacity to grow at St Damian’s but funding only follows when registration goes up, so we are unable to offer more appointments until our patient list grows.”