AN SOS campaign has begun to save Okehampton’s second doctors’ surgery from the axe.

With growing patient numbers and the town set to expand by 25% over the next few years, residents and organisations have slammed the decision by NHS England as ‘short-sighted’.

Health’s governing body is planning to close the Okement Surgery at Okehampton Hospital next April because it claims it is ‘not sustainable.’

Astonishment greeted the news last week, which was exclusively revealed in the Okehampton Times. It means 1,700 patients will be looking for a new GP within the next six months.

Patients were further disgruntled by the fact that they had still (as of Tuesday, November 24) not received letters from NHS England officially informing them of the plans to close the practice, despite its reassurances that letters had been sent to all patients last week.

Patient representative for the Okement Surgery Lynn Lane, who has been with the practice since 2005, said: ‘We are going to fight this all the way and I am looking for backing from patients, organisations, the town council and the MP.’

‘Since 2007 patient numbers have grown from 1,200 to 1,762. NHS England said that practices with around 1,800 patients are not sustainable but with the way this town is growing we could easily surpass that by the end of next year. It’s very bad planning.

‘A town of this size needs a second surgery — there is no way that Okehampton Medical Centre will cope with all these extra numbers. We want people to write to their MP and NHS England asking them to reverse this decision and hold a proper consultation on the future of the surgery.

‘In the meantime I would ask people to stay with the Okement Surgery because the more patients that stay with us the more chance there is of fighting this. The surgery will be operating as normal with the usual doctors and staff.’

For the past seven years the Okement Surgery has been run by the Wallingbrook Health Group on behalf of NHS England. In last week’s article NHS England said the contract with Wallingbrook was time-limited and it was now clear that the existing practices — Okehampton Medical centre and surgeries in Hatherleigh, Bow and North Tawton, where patients would be ‘dispersed’, would comfortably be able to cope with the numbers of patients in and around Okehampton.

Okehampton and District Community Transport Group said its experience was that both Okehampton surgeries were very busy all of the time.

‘We take a lot of clients to the medical centre and Okement Surgery, both of which are extremely busy,’ the group said in a statement. ‘It can sometimes be two weeks before an appointment can be made with a specific doctor  and with a growing population in the town we can’t understand why this decision has been made, particularly without consultation from the community.

‘This will particularly hit those without their own transport if they are expected to travel to other towns for appointments. In turn it will increase our requests as, at the moment, many people can walk to their doctors’ surgery which should be encouraged too for the health benefits.’

Okehampton mayor Paul Vachon said the town council would be discussing the Okement Surgery at its meeting on Monday, December 7.

He said the population of Okehampton was around 7,300 at the moment and the expectation was, with all the homes planned within the West Devon Core Strategy, that that would rise to 10,000 in the next few years.

‘This decision will particularly hit the elderly, many of whom have to rely on public transport or other people to get then to and from doctors’ appointments. I do not think the fact that we are a rural community has been taken into consideration. We are all very concerned about it.’

Spokesman for Wallingbrook Health Group, Dr Will Sherlock said: ‘We are aware that patients did not receive their letters from NHS England informing them of the closure of the Okement Surgery when they should have done.

‘NHS England notified us on Monday, November 23 that there had been a delay in sending out letters to patients and we have been assured that these letters have now been sent.

‘We have built excellent relationships with our Okement patients over the last seven years and strong patient communication has been vital to this. That is why we have also written to patients about the changes.’

Linda Prosser, director of commissioning NHS England in the South West said:

 ‘A number of patients of Okement Primary Care Centre have contacted us to say they have not yet received their letters. We apologise for the delay, we have contacted our mailing house who have confirmed that the delay was with them.

‘This has now been resolved and remaining letters will arrive with patients this week.’

In line with its national vision for the National Health? Service in a time of rising demand and tight funding, NHS England said very small practices like the Okement Surgery were not sustainable as the health service moved towards seven day working and as other demands on primary care increased.

Dr Tim Watson, a GP at Okehampton Medical Centre said: ‘We currently care for over 12,000 patients in the local community. We have recently introduced new GP partners to the practice and since late 2013 have seen major developments of our site which means we can comfortably register and see more patients.

‘We are confident we can offer a range of services to patients now, and as our community grows, and look forward to welcoming new patients to our practice.

‘Okehampton Medical Centre is situated in a central location which makes it easy for patients concerned about travelling further to visit a GP.

‘We are looking to hold an open day in early 2016 so local residents can pop in to meet our team and learn more about the services we offer to our patients.’