Queens Road Surgery closure
Your questions answered
1)Why is the surgery closing?
The practice has taken the difficult decision to close because they have struggled to recruit new GPs to the practice and not been able to merge with another practice. One of the GPs will be working outside of the city and it is not possible for the remaining GP to continue on his own. The practice has therefore become unsustainable.
2)Couldn’t anything be done to keep it open?
NHS Portsmouth Clinical Commission Group (CCG), which is responsible for planning primary care services in the city, has explored several options to try to keep the surgery open, including merging it with another practice or finding another practice or organisation to come in and take over its running. Unfortunately, it has been unable to find an alternative practical solution. All parties do recognise and apologise for the inconvenience and potential concern that this may cause.
3)When is the last time I can use Queens Road?
The surgery is due to remain open until the close of play on June 30th, 2017. It is not yet knownwhen the last appointments and clinics will be held but patients will be provided with the care they need up until June 30th 2017 from Queens Road surgery or until they register at another practice if this is earlier.
4)What do I do after June 30th?
You should have received a letter from the CCG encouraging you to register at another practice – together with a list of all the city’s GP practices. We would urge you to register with another practice as soon as you can – to allow for your notes and medical records to be transferred to your new GP practice.Any Queens Road patient who hasn’t registered at a new practice by July 1 will automatically be allocated to another practice, but this won’t necessarily be one of your choice – which is why you need to take steps to register elsewhere as soon as possible. Patients will be informed in writing if they have been allocated to another surgery giving details of which one.
5)How do I register with another practice?
You will need to go to the practice in person although some practices do offer the ability to register online.
At the time of writing, there are vacancies at the two closest GP surgeries to Queens Road – Hanway Group Practice and Kingston Crescent, Surgery (part of the Portsdown Group Practice).
6)Can I choose where I go and will they accept me?
You have the right to choose a GP practice that best suits your needs – however they are not required to take you if you live outside their boundary (please check with the practice direct or its website should offer you more information).
Practices should accept patients unless there are reasonable grounds to refuse to do so - although these must not relate to race, gender, social class, age, religion, sexual orientation, appearance, disability or a medical condition. However as there will be many patients looking to register at a new practice in a short space of time some practices may struggle to safely register large numbers of patients, so you may not be able to register with your first choice of practice.
7)How far away are the nearest practices to Queens Road?
If proximity of your GP surgery to your home is an over-riding consideration for you, the two nearest practices, that are within half a mile of Queens Road are Hanway Group Practice and Kingston Crescent Surgery (part of the Portsdown Group Practice), which currently report theyhave capacity for more patients.
8)Will my whole family be able to move to the same practice?
GP practices understand the reasons why families would want to be registered at the same surgery, and no doubt would take this into account, but there can unfortunately be no guarantees when such high numbers of patients need to be accommodated. Please speak to the practice directly and they should be able to answer your question
9) Will there definitely be somewhere in the city for me?
NHS Portsmouth CCG will ensure every patientin the city is able to register with a practice.
10) What is happening to the staff at the practice?
For those looking for re-employment, we hope that there may be opportunities for the practice staff at other surgeries in the city especially as we know that some of the practices will be registering a significant number of additional patients but do please bear in mind that some of the admin staff in particular will be adversely affected by this closure.
11) Who can I contact to speak to someone about this?
Portsmouth CCG Primary Care Team: 02392 899528
Queens Road Surgery: 02392 665134