Proposed Closure of Frizington Surgery

As many people will be aware Frizington Surgery has been temporarily closed for a number of weeks. After due consideration Fellview Healthcare have now made the difficult decision to submit an application to NHS England to close the site on a permanent basis.

Fellview Healthcare (Fellview) has operated on four branch sites in Whitehaven, Cleator Moor, Egremont and Frizington. In common with many other primary care providers across North Cumbria, GP numbers at Fellview have fallen steadily over a number of years. Whilst the practice has made every effort to recruit, attracting new GP’s to North Cumbria and especially West Cumbria, has and is proving difficult. The practice has developed new roles to help meet patient demand however many services require the presence of a GP on site, to ensure appropriate support and supervision to the wider clinical team, enabling the delivery of safe and effective services to all patients.

Fellview patients have always had the option to be seen at any one of the Practice branch sites and are not limited to their “local” surgery, and have become used to visiting different sites and clinical settings to receive care.

The practice continues to address workforce challenges, however there is no immediate solution to the lack of GP availability, this problem, which is being seriously felt across North Cumbria and is an acute issue in West Cumbria. In order to support delivery of services now and in the future, we believe a fully integrated ‘clinical hub’ model will improve patient experience and service delivery. Focusing services on three sites in Cleator Moor, Egremont and Whitehaven is deemed the only way forward. We know change takes time, so some of the changes will come sooner than others.

We’ve produced a number of documents to help people understand the current situation and our intentions for the future. Further information is attached.

Fellview Healthcare Frizington Engagement Plan June 22 Briefing Document

Fellview Healthcare Frizington Engagement Plan June 22 FAQ’s

Patient Survey

A patient survey has been developed in order that patients comments can be collated and considered, as part of the engagement process.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Frizington

Patient and Stakeholder Comments

Patients and stakeholders can also send any comments regarding the proposed closure to:

cuccg.ncpcenquiries@nhs.net

Letters can be left at any Fellview Healthcare surgery for the attention of Anne Thompson.

Drop In Sessions

We will hold drop in sessions at Frizington Branch surgery to allow patients, stakeholders and other interested parties to discuss queries and raise concerns. Fellview Healthcare will ensure senior representation at these sessions.

Dates and Times:

Comments will be collated and considered as part of the application process.

We will update patients, staff and stakeholders, as soon as we are able to.