Doctors warn of threat to surgery

Jan 11 2008 by Dave Black, The Journal

FEARS have been voiced that a Northumberland coalfield village could lose its only doctors’ surgery if plans to open a local chemist’s shop are given the green light by health officials.

More than 300 people in Widdrington Station, near Morpeth, have already signed a protest petition organised by the two village GPs, calling for the bid to be rejected.

Dr Chris Waite and his wife, Dr Yvonne Lees, who run the 3,000-patient Widdrington Surgery at Grange Road clinic, say their practice will become unviable if the proposed pharmacy is allowed to open.

Two Manchester men have applied for permission for the shop at an unspecified location in the village, and the bid will be considered by a special panel set up by the Northumberland Care Trust (NCT).

Dr Waite says if the pharmacy is allowed, under NHS rules no-one else would be allowed to dispense prescriptions and medication to patients living within a mile of it – effectively putting the surgery’s dispensary out of business.

He says the consequent major loss of income to the practice would force it to quickly scale down from two GPs to just one, and lead to its eventual closure. NCT is seeking views and comments on the pharmacy plan by February 15 and will then decide whether approving it is in the best interests of local people.

Yesterday Dr Waite said: “I am not crying wolf here, this represents a serious threat to the future viability of the practice. We are heavily reliant on our dispensary for propping up our medical services and losing it would lead to a very rapid decline in our service to patients.”

A public meeting to discuss the potential threat to the practice will be held in Widdrington Station Community Centre at 7pm on Monday.

Last night a NCT spokeswoman said: “There are rules about when and where pharmacies can open which are set down by the Department of Health.”