Call for Parnwell doctor surgery to re-open as patients have to travel nine miles to see GP

There have been calls for a Peterborough doctor surgery to re-open after patients were left with a nine mile trip to see a doctor.

The Parnwell GP surgery has been shut since last year due to subsistence in the walls and foundations.

Most patients are being sent to Ailsworth which is more than 8 miles away. Ailsworth and Parnwell are part of the same GP contract.

Cllrs Shabina Qayyum and Sam Hemraj, who both represent the East Ward, have been working with residents to try and find a solution for patients for six months.

Cllr Qayyum said: “The surgery has been closed since last year. We have been a portal of communication between residents, the surgery and the Integrated Care Board (ICB) to establish when it will open again.

“Right now, our main concern is the lack of provision of GP services in Parnwell in a neighbourhood which houses an elderly and frail population who are being asked to travel in many cases to Ailsworth to be seen.

“This is unacceptable and we are in the process of scheduling a meeting with the ICB to expedite the process.”

Two petitions have now been launched.

One person signing one petition said said: “I think in closing a surgery and then saying that your new one is 9 miles is not acceptable when there are nearer doctors surgeries. How are people with out transport to get there as a very limited public transport? A round trip in a taxi would be over £30.”

Another person added: “There are a lot of elderly and vulnerable folks in Parnwell. Parnwell's population is expanding as a result of recent home construction along Newark Road and Oxney Road. With a growing population, it is inevitable that services, particularly a surgery, need to be available.”

Peterborough MP Paul Bristow and Andrew Pakes, Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Peterborough have also been calling for action.

Mr Pakes said: “I’ve heard and met with residents forced to pay for taxis, or who are elderly, and struggle to make the trip across the city and back.”

“We all know that the NHS is at breaking point but that is no excuse to leaving Parnwell residents as second-class citizens when it comes to seeing a nurse or doctor.

"The ICB need to prioritise this issue urgently and set an urgent deadline to get this surgery re-open and serving residents.”

Mr Bristow said he was speaking to doctors this week in a bid to get the surgery open, and was supporting residents in their campaign..

A NHS Cambridgeshire & Peterborough spokesperson said repairs would take place at the surgery. They said: “We are working with Parnwell Surgery to ensure the practice is able to safely reopen its doors to patients once the necessary repair works have been completed. We apologise to patients for any inconvenience caused due to the temporary closure.”