Around 3,000 patients are at risk of being left without a doctor following news that a Folkestone surgery is due to shut.

Park Farm Surgery, in Alder Road and run by Dr Abhijit Neil Banik, will close on Tuesday, March 31.

This means all its registered patients - which is around 3,000 people - will need to find another surgery.

But the South Kent Coast clinical commissioning groups (CCG) says it is "committed" to making sure patients will be able to register at another practice close to their home.

A spokesman for the CCG said: "GP surgeries are separate businesses that operate under contracts to deliver services for the NHS so GPs make their own business decisions about their surgeries.

"Dr Banik, who owns Park Farm Surgery in Folkestone, has given the NHS notice that he intends to close his surgery on 31 March 2020.

"The NHS has no control over that decision but we are now working hard to make sure that all of Dr Banik’s patients can register at a local surgery.

"The CCG is committed to making sure that all patients will be able to register with a local practice that covers their home address before the surgery closes.

"The CCG is currently working very closely with local GP practices to finalise these plans.

"We will be writing to all patients registered at Park Farm Surgery in the next few weeks with a full explanation about how they can register with a local GP surgery."

There is currently only one doctor at the surgery, plus a practice manager, nurse and reception staff.

The surgery was put into special measures after being rated 'inadequate' by the Care Quality Commissioning (CQC) in 2017.

Their investigation unearthed a catalogue of errors, such as a lack of emergency medicines for cardiac pain, diabetes, epilepsy, asthma and meningitis, and having to use the defibrillator kept at the fire station’s next door.

But at its last inspection in May 2019 it was given the improved rating of 'good'.

Its closure follows the departure of the Folkestone East Family Practice, in Dover Road, in 2017, which had 5,000 patients on its books.

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