AFTER months of winding down, a Bournemouth health centre is to finally close its doors next week.
Winton Health Centre, in Alma Road, will close its doors on Monday, July 31 following the GP’s announcement in April that they want to end their care at the centre.
The GP said financial pressures coupled with recruitment problems are to blame for the decision along with losses “in the hundreds of thousands of pounds in the last year”.
More than 10,000 patients were registered at thre practice and a spokesman for NHS Dorset said most have been transferred to a new practice.
He added: “However, there are a few people that live out of area that will need to register with a practice where they now reside who have not yet done so.
“In order to help the transition, patients at Winton were also asked to ensure they had sufficient medication to carry over to the new practice.
Read more: Retired doctor handcuffs himself to Bournemouth GP surgery
“The equipment at Winton will be distributed amongst the GP practices, charities, voluntary organisations and local NHS Trusts that have expressed an interest.”
Dr Edwin Owen led a campaign in a bid to get the doctors to change their minds on closing the surgery, which included chaining himself to the outside of the building.
On his campaign, he said: “I did this because who else is going to do it? This is not because of me, I spoke with a lot of people who are a lot shier than I am and if I have something to say I will say it.
“Now it has closed down there will be a lot of repercussions - where will the university students go for healthcare when they return in September?
Read more: Winton Health Centre reveal reasons why they have to close
“People are furious about it but it’s the doctor’s choice to close it down and it was done with no consultation with the people it will affect.”
He added he is “very sad” Winton Health Centre is closing and fears the surrounding GPs are now “too full”.
Twenty-two redundancies have been made as a result of the closure and the ground floor of the building will remain unoccupied for the time being.
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