Hole left by retirement reaches Parliament

A LEADING Liberal Democrat MP has called on the government to explain why a West Hampstead doctor’s surgery has been allowed to close.
Paul Burstow MP, the party’s health spokesman, has fired a series of parliamentary questions at Health Secretary John Reid which include a demand to come clean about the closure of a practice in Finchley Road.
The surgery at the centre of the row was closed last month after twin doctors Bohdan and Andrew Meeson retired, aged 70.
The Lib Dems claim a replacement doctor should have been found to keep the popular service running and have warned that patients have nowhere to go if they fall ill.
Mr Burston’s question said: “What representations has he (Dr Reid) received concerning the quality of the consultation undertaken by the Primary Care Trust (PCT) concerning the closure of the Finchley Road Surgery?”
Camden Lib Dems say the PCT has failed to recognise the problem and were expected to raise the issue at the full council meeting this Wednesday (last night).
Hampstead and Highgate parliamentary candidate Ed Fordham said his requests for information from the PCT have been ignored and he is now considering applying for details under the new Freedom of Information rules.
He said: “I don’t think some patients realise what is going on.
“It is only when they get ill that they will realise there will be a problem.”
Mr Fordham added: “The PCT is labouring under a serious misapprehension – namely that people would have known that the surgery was likely to close.
“This is outrageous – the PCT has the responsibility to ensure that there is significant provision and it has failed to do the bare minimum let alone fulfil its legal obligations to consult.
“There needs to be a full public apology and some meaningful reassurances that the patients are registered with another doctor.”
The PCT has already insisted it could not continue running a practice in Finchley Road.
A press statement said the building could not be upgraded to meet national requirements.