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The future of GP services provided at a village surgery has been thrown into doubt.
The NHS Kent and Medway Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), which plans and pays for the county’s healthcare, has written to patients of Iwade Health Centre, near Sittingbourne, to say its contract with DMC Healthcare will end in March.
The Monins Road practice has a registered patient population of approximately 5,700.
The letter, sent at the beginning of the month, said: “We are writing to you as a patient registered at DMC Iwade Health Centre with important information about the future of your practice.
“GP services are anything you routinely contact your GP practice for, such as an appointment with a GP, nurse or other healthcare professional, prescriptions or routine health checks.
“GP services at Iwade Health Centre are provided by DMC Healthcare.
“The contract with DMC Healthcare ends on March 31, 2022. This means we are now considering how GP services will be delivered in the future to patients registered with the practice after this date.”
It added that patients would be able to access GP services “at all times” and that they did not need to take any action around their future care.
The CCG said it would let patients know about the new arrangements and what it meant for them nearer the time. Until then, it is asking them to let the CCG know their views so it can “better understand what is important” to them and to help it shape the future service.
DMC Healthcare had two doctors, a paramedic, four nurses and a support staff of 11 at the practice, according to its website.
The move comes soon after DMC Healthcare lost its contract to run a GP service at Sheppey Community Hospital in Plover Road, Minster, in a major health shake-up.
DMC Healthcare had run the surgery at the site for the past 12 years but, in September, 9,000 patients were told they had to sign on with other doctors, including in Sittingbourne.
Letters from the CCG gave patients until October 31 to register with a new surgery.
Many turned to social media to vent their fury. Among the five alternatives willing to sign up new patients, three are in Sittingbourne, including The Meads at Sonora Fields.
One furious patient who had changed from the hospital to Iwade Health Centre shared his anger on Facebook.
He said: “I changed from DMC Sheppey to DMC Iwade and now just received the letter stating that the contract is ending in March and the CCG is looking at how GP services are being delivered. What does the CCG have against the DMC? You couldn’t make this up.”
The survey on Iwade Health Centre is open until 5pm on Wednesday, December 1. Click here to find out more.
