Bishopthorpe GP surgery announces closure

A village is set to lose its only GP surgery after the practice announced it was shutting.

Bishopthorpe Branch Surgery said the closure would happen in "early July" when its lease came to an end.

It said discussions with the landlord to extend the lease had "not been successful".

Patients will be transferred to its sister surgery in Copmanthorpe, which is set to undergo a "full refurbishment and extension" it said.

In a letter to patients practice bosses said they had "only very recently" been informed of the landlord's decision not to renew the lease

It said they had been offered the use of space at the village's Vernon House Community Centre, but that it was not possible due to strict guidelines that deemed the space to be "unsuitable".

"Our focus is ensuring that our patients continue to receive the same standard of care from the Copmanthorpe site," the letter said.

"In addition, the surgery will undergo a full refurbishment and extension to deliver more health care services and capacity to our patients."

It added that further details about for patients "who have no transport options" would be announced in due course.

The surgery said it planned to restructure the way it worked to ensure appointment availability remained the same and hoped to increase capacity by extending its opening hours.

The letter added: "We appreciate that many of you will have concerns and we will try to address these in the coming weeks via communications sent directly to you and on our social media page.

"We ask that you continue to use our services as normal in the meantime."

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