IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT REGARDING THE FUTURE AT EAST BARNWELL HEALTH CENTRE

Posted on June 11th, 2024

Over the last 10 years, East Barnwell Health Centre GP Practice has been facing increasing financial challenges. These have been in three main areas including an exponential rise in the service charges required to work out of our current NHS Property Services owned building; inadequate local health funding to meet the needs of our patients; and a national contract funding increase well below inflation. All of this has made it increasingly difficult to maintain a financially viable practice that offers the safe and responsive care that you have received over the years.

We have had many meetings over several years with the local NHS system leaders and worked very hard to try to achieve a solution to guarantee our viability going forward. We are very proud of all our team at the surgery who have continued to work in the practice despite increasingly difficult circumstances.

Unfortunately, we have not been successful in securing the ongoing funding that we need to continue to provide the level of service that our patients require and deserve.

It is therefore with great sadness that the four Partners, Dr Harmer, Dr Boualem, Dr Macnair and Dr Mellanby have made the decision to hand back their contract.  This means that from the 10^th October 2024, these Partners will no longer be responsible for running East Barnwell Health Centre.

The local ICS (Integrated Care System) is now in the process of looking for an alternative provider to run the practice. As soon as we have more information about who this will be, we will let you know.

We want to reassure you that the practice will continue to be open and medical care will be provided for you as it has always done – it will just mean that there will be different management in place and some new faces to get to know. We very much hope that lots of familiar faces will remain.

In the meantime, the Partners would like to say that it has been a privilege to be part of this community of Abbey.

Questions regarding the future of the practice? Please see our FAQ here EBHC patient FAQs June 24