Labour councillors criticise care bosses as GP practice set to close

Arun Medical Group gave notice on June 30 to the NHS Coastal West Sussex Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to end its contract to provide GP services.

This means the surgery at East Street, Littlehampton will close in October, affecting 7,500 patients.

A statement released by the Labour Party criticised the CCG for the closure, blaming a ‘lack of action’.

Labour town councillor Freddie Tandy said that the CCG ‘is showing itself to be wholly incompetent in the management of local NHS provision’.

He added that the idea of absorbing the affected patients into other surgeries was ‘ludicrous’ and that this was the first major local impact of government austerity on the NHS.

According to Mr Tandy, five out of six surgeries in the area are currently not accepting new patients for ‘reasons of patient safety’.

Arun District councillor Mike Northeast called for ‘urgent action’ in the stalled plans for a GP surgery at the Enterprise Hub, next to the Morrisons store in Wick, to accommodate these patients.

He also asked for MP Nick Gibb and Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt to push this plan forward so that Littlehampton and Wick ‘don’t lose out yet again.’

Mr Gibb has been approached for comment.

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