A PETITION to stop the closure of a Wrexham GP surgery has been relaunched after new closure plans were announced.

Alyn Family Doctors is consulting patients on the planned closure of the GP surgery at Gresford Health Centre, having unsuccessfully tried to do this in 2019.

The practice is proposing to transfer patients from the surgery to its Rossett or Llay surgeries in a move which has already prompted objections from ward councillor Andrew Atkinson, former Wrexham MP Ian Lucas, Gresford Community Council and residents.

The district nurses and health visitors currently based at the site after temporary changes were made due to Covid, would remain there under the new plans.

Alyn Family Doctors are currently consulting patients with a view to submitting an application to Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board in September.

"More efficient"

A practice spokesperson told The Leader: "Despite the huge pressure on healthcare provision in the last 16 months, Alyn Family Doctors has kept face-to-face appointments and increased access via video, text and e-consultations as well as delivering almost 17,000 Covid vaccinations.

"Forty five per cent of patients registered at Gresford have been seen face-to-face since April 2020. Working over two sites means we’re more efficient and we’ve been able to increase the number of GP appointments by 135 per week (17%).

"We now offer 935 GP appointments per week. This proposal means we can continue to increase access for all whilst ensuring that the most vulnerable in our community are not left behind by the growth in online access.”

Petition shared

Cllr Andrew Atkinson has invited residents to sign a petition originally set up to stop plans to close the surgery in 2019. There were 1000 signatures on the petition when it launched three years ago and there were around 1285, at the time of writing this article.

The petition is on the 38degrees website and is addressed to Alyn Family Doctors and Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board.

The petition says: "We, the residents of Gresford need our Health Centre for GP appointments and Practice Nurse services to stay in Gresford. The other options offered involve one or two bus journeys each way for those without transport, and little or no parking provision for those with a car.

"If Llay is to be the main surgery, the chance of being offered an appointment involving two bus journeys will be extremely high. The current waiting list for a GP appointment is several weeks and we are also concerned that this will worsen with only two surgeries."

Proposals challenged

Cllr Andrew Atkinson posted a message about the proposed closure and the petition on the Gresford News Facebook page.

He said: "I'm sure by now that most of you have had some form of contact from Alyn Family Doctors announcing their intention to close Gresford Doctors as we know it. I've just been contacted myself."

He added: "I've been asking the Community Council and others to always log any difficulties that patients have had in getting to Llay so that we can remind the practice of the problems in this expected scenario.

"If you have had issues in getting to Llay please make them known during this consultation period. I will be challenging this as with the previous attempt."

One resident said: "Can I suggest people report costs getting to Llay if you don't have a car and need a taxi. Last price I heard from Rossett to Llay £11 one way, which is £22 round trip.

"I don't know Gresford prices, but the people who need a taxi to the doctors are usually those who can't afford a taxi. I'm working and it's out of my budget.

"The bus trip is also not good especially if you're ill, as it's a bus to Wrexham and a bus to Llay with quite a wait between trips. And that's if you can be near enough to a bus stop to get the first bus."

Meanwhile, former Wrexham MP Ian Lucas described it as an "outrageous proposal" on Twitter.

 

 

Simon Jones, Assistant Director of Primary Care in the East of Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, said: “We have advised Alyn Family Doctors that they will need to submit a new application for the permanent closure of Gresford Health Centre.

"Patient engagement, including comments, concerns and observations are a key element of the application that the health board will consider when making its decision. We are currently awaiting submission of their application.”

Consultation time frame

The patient consultation for those registered at the Gresford surgery runs until Monday, August 23. To respond, patients can email AlynFamilyDoctors.GresfordEngagement@wales.nhs.uk or write to Gresford Engagement, Llay Health Centre, School Road, Llay, Wrexham LL12 0TR.

Patients can also send feedback to North Wales Community Health Council, either via email to yourvoice@wales.nhs.uk, phone via 01248 679284 (ext 3) or post via Mtrs Carol Williams, North Wales Community Health Council, 11 Llys Castan, Parc Menai, Bangor LL574FH.

The petition can be found at https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/save-gresford-doctors-surgery-and-associated-services-from-closure.