MP to contact health secretary over GP redundancies

Concerns about a Surrey surgery where GPs face redundancy will be raised with the health secretary.

The Conservative MP for Esher and Walton, Dominic Raab, said he would contact Victoria Atkins about the surgery.

Glenlyn Medical Centre, which has sites in Thames Ditton and Molesey, wrote to all salaried doctors before Christmas inviting them to apply for voluntary redundancy.

Three have since taken voluntary redundancy, with the practice manager saying “new ways of working” had led to changes in the staffing structure.

Mr Raab said he understood residents would be concerned about the changes.

He added: “I will be seeking urgent meetings with the surgery to raise these concerns and will also raise this with the health secretary.”

New roles at the surgery include pharmacists, advanced nursing and paramedic practitioners and paediatric nurses.

In 2019, the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme was introduced to the NHS, meaning primary care networks could claim money for the salaries of staff other than GPs.

Monica Harding, the Lib Dem parliamentary candidate in Esher and Walton, said such roles should supplement the work of GPs, not replace them.

She added: “We want more GPs, not less. They are more expensive but there’s a reason for that.”

Richard, a patient from Thames Ditton, told BBC Radio Surrey it was "very challenging" to get a GP appointment at the surgery.

He also described a “long online process” to get appointments, raising concerns about those without internet access.

“It seems bonkers to be losing GPs when the health crisis is so acute,” he added.

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