Patient care could be in jeopardy as a property dispute threatens a busy GP surgery in Carlshalton, by our Sutton correspondent, ROSE HILL
Up for sale?: the owners of the Carshalton Fields GP surgery have given only a short notice to quit
Some 4,000 patients of the Carshalton Fields Surgery on Crichton Road could be forced to seek a new GP after the practice was given just two months to vacate the property by their landlords.
The notice period is just one-third of that recommended by the NHS, and potentially places an unmanageable workload on the local health service, with so many people seeking alternative local health care at the same time.
Representatives of the Carshalton Beeches surgery’s patient group claim that the landlords — Dr Raj Goel and Dr Kusum Goel, who were once partners in the practice — pulled out of an arrangement to sell the property to their successors when the lease came to an end.
The source claims the landlords also wanted to keep the lease agreement going beyond its expiry date, and accepted further rental payments in advance up to the end of March 2024, but then on January 31, issued the notice to quit.
The patient group says that the notice given is not enough time to find alternative premises, so the only option would be for the practice to close. All the GP practices in the area are at or close to capacity for patients.
“Patient care will suffer. And the volume of new patients could easily destabilise one or more of the neighbouring practices,” our source said.
South West London Integrated Care Board, the ICB (which replaced the local Clinical Commissioning Group in 2022), advises GP practices to hold at least six months’ notice periods on their surgery premises to allow for a safe transfer of patient care.
“So any notice period of six months or less does not give the practice time to find alternate premises before transferring care,” the source said.
“It effectively forces the practice to close. We believe it will take three to six months to identify, secure and fit out suitable premises before patient care can be safely transferred.”
Inside Sutton understands that approaches for help have been made to local councillors, Sutton Council, Sutton’s director of public health, and Elliot Colburn, the MP for Carshalton and Wallington. “We’re asking for support in lobbying the landlords to grant at least nine to 12 months’ notice so that we can evaluate alternatives to closing.”
According to the patient group, the landlords want to sell the property, which may require planning permission for change of use and possibly consent from NHS England.
“Any option other than remaining in the current premises will cause disruption to 4,000 patients. The shorter the notice, the more assistance these patients will need to register with alternate practices.”
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