Residents in Boxford, near Sudbury, make their case for saving village surgery as closure discussed by Suffolk County Council

Residents have made their case for saving a village's surgery as discussions on its closures took place.

The future of Boxford Mill Surgery, in Church Street, was discussed earlier today during a meeting of the county council's health and scrutiny committee.

The Hadleigh Boxford Practice group is looking to close the surgery due to the building being run down and requiring significant investment.

It is proposing to transfer the services to the Hadleigh surgery, in Market Place.

However, residents have come together to oppose the plans, with a petition reaching almost 600 signatures.

Colin Parr, a Boxford resident, said the community faced a 'considerable shock' over the lack of investment in the building over the years.

He added: "News of the proposal to close the Boxford Surgery was received as a major blow to residents of Boxford and surrounding satellite villages.

"Boxford has always acted as a hub reducing demand on Hadleigh and Sudbury for a variety of services, used not just by its own residents but also those of the surrounding villages and hamlets."

Mr Parr stressed moving the services to Hadleigh would have a big impact on residents, particularly due to the lack of adequate buses, an overloaded car assistance scheme, and the high cost of paying for taxis.

In a counter-proposal to the Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board (SNEE ICB), which would have the final say in the closure, he urged the ICB to not look at the surgery just as a cost and suggested the funds to make the building fit for purpose should be sought from the NHS or, potentially, from Babergh's Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) money pot.

Mr Parr said: "The Boxford surgery is working now, with investment and ingenuity it can be improved and enhanced to meet the future realistic aspirations for care in the community in Boxford and the surrounding area.

"The closure of a surgery so highly valued by the community it serves is the antithesis of current Government policy of making the NHS more of a neighbourhood health service with more care available closer to people's homes."

Dr Iain Lyons, a GP partner at the group who spoke during this morning's council meeting, rejected the claims it had not invested in the surgery and highlighted the financial struggles in healthcare which have forced the group to make 'tough decisions' to keep services going.

He said: "In general practice, the costs are going up and up and up, but the money coming into primary care is in no way keeping pace."

"Boxford surgery is not fit for practice, it's not fit to provide modern primary care services — the building was constructed about 70 years ago when general practice looked and functioned completely differently from how it does today."

He explained instances when patient safety was compromised due to poor access for emergency ambulance crews, as well as a lack of resources and equipment — these, he said, would never have happened in Hadleigh.

In one instance, the council report said, a clinician has had to rush to the Boxford surgery, leaving a full clinic in Hadleigh, to support a GP who was administering oxygen while waiting for an ambulance.

Currently, the surgery runs four morning sessions every week with a single GP and closure would mean moving these, alongside the blood clinic and dispensing service, to the Hadleigh surgery.

The closure would impact 1,488 residents in Boxford alone and up to 16,156 when including Hadleigh and surrounding villages.

Regarding access, Dr Lyons said discussions were taking place to improve transport links into Hadleigh — Mr Parr said this would provide some alleviation but would not fix the problem entirely.

Overall, councillors acknowledged the concerns but commended the group's case for closure.

Cllr Edward Back said the case was both 'comprehensive and compelling'.

He added: "I'm not familiar with the Boxford surgery myself but from the photograph I saw of the building, the floor plan, the restricted site that it sits on, there's clearly no opportunity or possibility to improve it or bring it up to standard.

"It's clearly not fit for purpose, there are issues regarding patient access and patient safety and I think there is only one choice here really and that is to close the surgery."

Cllr Jessica Fleming, the committee's chairwoman, said: "We understand the concerns very well about losing local services and I think that's something very dear to everyone's heart.

"We want to keep services local and personal, but sometimes practicalities become very large obstacles to doing that."

Although not the decision maker, the committee provided some recommendations to be taken into account, including careful consideration of all the information and concerns and continued listening of residents.

The practice will now put together and submit its closure application to the Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board (SNEE ICB) for a final decision.