Residents were told last night the strength of opposition to the closure of a neighbourhood GP surgery means it may not go ahead after all.
Stanford Medical Centre has been consulting on moving its Islingword Road branch to the new medical centre at Preston Barracks – about a mile away.
Stanford’s Cockroft branch and Allied Medical’s Church Surgery and School House Surgery are also set to move. The first two are very close to the Preston Barracks site off Lewes Road, while the last is also a mile away in Hollingdean, on the other side of the railway tracks.
The consultation closed yesterday, and the plans will now go before NHS Sussex’s integrated care board which has the final say on whether the move should happen.
At a packed meeting of St Luke’s Residents Association in St Luke’s Church hall last night, NHS Sussex’s primary care transformation manager Tom Goodridge was asked by one patient if it was possible the move might be stopped.
Mr Goodridge said: “Given the geography, and the lack of available GP provision in Hanover and Queens Park – with the hill and the travel options, that’s significant impact, not only on vulnerable groups but all groups.
“Given the significant strength of feeling – this is probably the most well-attended meeting in Brighton this evening.”
The meeting was told that there are currently 4,500 patients registered at Islingword Road Surgery.
There are no other surgeries in Hanover and Elm Grove or Queen’s Park ward, and only a handful in neighbouring wards. There was speculation there might not be enough room on those surgeries’ lists to accommodate those who didn’t want to travel to Preston Barracks.
Mr Goodridge said the board would also take into account the likely knock-on effect on the pharmacy next door.
During the consultation, patients were told: “The new medical centre at Preston Barracks would offer modern, high‑quality clinical rooms, improved disabled access, up‑to‑date facilities, and the opportunity to offer more GP and nurse appointments.”
However, patients at last night’s meeting were not impressed. Mark Strong, who sits as a community rep on the council’s place overview and scrutiny committee, said: “If you are working and you need a quick appointment, it’s going to take an hour out of your day at least, instead of the 10-15 minutes it currently does.
“If people can’t get to it, it doesn’t matter how good it’s going to be.”
Another resident said: “You don’t need a state of the art surgery for an average appointment. Most of the time it’s really low key.”
At the end of the meeting, attended by about 80 people, there was a unanimous vote in favour of keeping the surgery open.