NHS Northumberland Clinical Commissioning Group

Clinicians commissioning healthcare for the people of Northumberland

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GP practice contract ended due to quality of care concerns

Monday 22 June 2020

NHS Northumberland Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) has made the decision to close a GP practice in Ashington.

The CCG’s primary care commissioning committee made the decision, last week, to end the contract of Laburnum Medical Group following inspections done by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and ongoing investigations carried out by the CCG, which identified issues with the quality of care provided.

The practice, which provides healthcare for 2400 patients from Ashington and the surrounding areas, including Wansbeck, Morpeth, Newbiggin and Bedlington, will close by the end of July.

Patients will be notified of the decision, in writing, from today and will also be advised that they have been automatically registered with one of six GP practices as close to their home as possible.

If a patient would like to register with another GP practice in their local area, they can do this from when Laburnum Medical Group closes at the end of next month.

Paul Turner, Director of Commissioning and Contracting for NHS Northumberland Clinical Commissioning Group, said:

“The CCG has worked closely with and supported Laburnum Medical Group, over the past couple of years, to address issues highlighted by the CQC and the CCG. We appreciate that this decision will be concerning and unsettling for patients registered with the practice. Our key priority is always the health and safety of patients.

“We would like to reassure patients that we continue to work closely with Laburnum Medical Group and have put measures and additional support in place to ensure that everyone who needs to access care from the practice, between now and when it closes, can do so safely.

“Another important priority for the CCG is that patients are able to receive GP care as close to home as possible. To ensure this, the CCG team is working with NHS England and Improvement to undertake an exercise to register patients with a new GP practice and to transfer their medical records. We are doing this to ensure patients are registered with a practice without having to visit in person, in light of the current Covid-19 situation.”

Any patients with concerns or issues should contact:

Patients are also being invited to join a Zoom call hosted by Healthwatch on Friday July 3. The Zoom call has been arranged as the CCG is unable to do a face-to-face engagement session in light of Covid-19.