Underwood surgery will continue as normal but still concerns over its financial stability

A request to close the surgery on Hankin Avenue made following the retirement of GP Dr Rajah has been rejected by NHS Mansfield and Ashfield Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).

But a surgery manager said there are still concerns about the financial future of the practice.

Nottinghamshire County Councillor David Martin said residents were shocked to see a ‘bolt out of the blue’ notice posted in their doctor’s surgery shortly before Christmas,

He said a request had been made to close the surgery on Hankin Avenue on February 29 with 1,300 patients transferred to the Jacksdale surgery, ‘with no real consultation’.

In a statement Mel Lindley, practice manager at Underwood Surgery said: “ We appreciate people’s concerns about losing their local GP practice and can confirm that the request to consider closing Underwood has been formally rejected by NHS Mansfield and Ashfield CCG.

“A replacement GP will provide services from May 1.

“In the meantime, services will continue as normal provided by Locum GP who has been providing support at the practice for a number of years. We appreciate the importance of Underwood Surgery to our local community and accept that the transport links between Underwood and Jacksdale are poor but we still have major concerns about the future financial stability of the practice.” Discussions will continue with the CCG to see what could be done to provide primary care services for Underwood and a formal consultation has begun.

A public meeting will be held at the Underwood Miners Welfare Church Lane Underwood on Friday February 19 at 6pm to discuss the future of the Underwood surgery.

Coun Martin said: “The surgery has been here for over 40 years - it is imperative that medical services are maintained in Underwood.”

Mel Lindley said the practice welcomed Coun Martin’s proposal for a public meeting as it would provide an ideal opportunity to discuss future potential services.