The South Glos Post

Patients hoping to see a GP in Kingswood could be turned away if their needs are not “medically urgent” it has emerged.

Under an agreement introduced by the previous Labour government in 2008, each Primary Care Trust had to provide a GP-led health centre that was open to all patients from 8am to 8pm, seven days a week – whether registered or not with that practice. South Gloucestershire PCT, now re-branded as NHS South Gloucestershire, awarded their contract to the Orchard Medical Centre in Kingswood and for the past two years anyone resident in South Gloucestershire has been able to access Orchard Medical Centre with or without an appointment.

However, at a meeting of the local council’s Health Scrutiny Committee last week, it emerged that as part of an overhaul of urgent care services, the local PCT has changed the contract without consulting anyone. Since May, any patient who is not registered with the practice and whose needs are not deemed to be “medically urgent” will not be treated and will be told to go and see their own GP.

More: Comments from Labour councillors concerned at the change in policy »

Source: Labour Councillors on South Gloucestershire Council

West Walk Surgery in Yate is celebrating moving to its new premises in the £12 million Yate West Gate Centre today, Monday 8th March.

Mr George Toogood, aged 100, and thirteen day old Joseph Nutt, the oldest and youngest patients at West Walk Surgery, have been invited to join the celebrations and help cut the ribbon on the surgery’s first working day in its new home.

West Walk Surgery in Yate has moved from its temporary building behind Yate library into the new Yate West Gate Centre. The Yate West Gate Centre, which opened Monday 8th February, 2010, is a joint venture with NHS South Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire Council providing local residents access to a range of health, children’s, young people and family services all in one place.

Staff at West Walk Surgery have been treating patients in temporary offices for the past two years. West Walk Surgery’s managing partner, Martin Wilkes, said: “The new building is a massive improvement. Although the cabins have served us well and were a vast improvement on the previous building, we appreciate it has still not been ideal.”

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Source: NHS South Gloucestershire