Arrangements have been put in place so patients of a retired GP can still be treated, it has been confirmed.

Patients were left in the dark after Dr Srinivasan Subash Chandran, who ran High Street practices in Sheerness and Queenborough, announced he was leaving before Christmas.

He had more than 4,700 people on his books and was the only doctor in Queenborough.

Temporary measures had been put in place to ensure patients would be able to be seen by a locum or other health professional up until Friday.

An agreement has been made and signed with Dr Simon Witts, who is based on the floor below Dr Chandran's Sheerness surgery, to take on about 4,000 patients.

Dr Chandran’s premises at Sheerness Health Centre will remain open, becoming part of Dr Witts’ practice.

The announcement was originally made by Rowena Hoult, who heads up a group called Patient and Practice Together on Facebook.

'It's ridiculous, they've really let us down' - Leanne Champ

She added: "Current staff at the surgeries in Sheerness and Queenborough are being absorbed into Dr Witts' practice in the same roles as they had with Dr Chandran where possible.

"The CCG is still negotiating with practices that have branches in Eastchurch, Leysdown and Warden about taking on the patients who live in those areas so they can be seen more locally."

Dr Chandran's former Queenborough base will remain open.

Swale Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) - the body in charge of allocating funds for local health services - confirmed the changes at the weekend.

A spokesman added patients living in Eastchurch, Warden Bay and Leysdown can transfer to St George's Medical Centre which runs clinics in the area.

Patients in Minster can choose to register as a new patient with Sheppey Healthy Living Centre, which also operates a surgery at Sheppey Community Hospital.

The spokesman said: "Arrangements have been made for patients who live in Sittingbourne to transfer to either Iwade Health Centre, Iwade, or Memorial Medical Centre, Bell Road, depending on which is closest to their home.

"A small number of patients who live outside of the NHS Swale CCG boundary are advised to register with a GP practice of their choice closer to home."

In a statement released earlier this week, the CCG told patients to wait for a letter which would explain the changes.

Leanne Champ, who is one of Dr Chandran's former patients, said: "It's ridiculous, they've really let us down.

"I was lucky enough last week that my daughter was really poorly and I managed to get a doctor's appointment last minute in the Sheerness practice for her.

"It's absolutely ridiculous that no one knows what's going on, it's all left completely to speculation."

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