Borth surgery has hired a new GP after a decade-long search – saving it from closure for ‘another year or two’.
As the Cambrian News reported last month, staff warned the rural practice will close unless it can recruit more GPs, with the situation likened to a ‘sinking ship’.
But this week it was granted a temporary reprieve when a GP from Tywyn answered the surgery’s calls and secured a job on a part-time salaried basis.
But GP and sole partner for the surgery Dr Sue Fish warned the new arrangement far from guarantees a long-term future for the surgery – as it still needs to recruit another doctor.
It was feared the surgery, located on the High Street and built in 1995, could have been forced to close its doors as early as August. But this would have depended on when Dr Fish chooses to retire.
When she does, the contract to operate the surgery will be sent back to Hywel Dda University Health Board (HDUHB), after which it is widely expected that bosses will decide to axe the practice and disperse patients into other services.
But the arrival of a new GP means Dr Fish is granted the improved working conditions she has been seeking to continue a year or two longer as partner, while she can also train the new doctor to carry on the mantle.
Surgery bosses wrote on social media: “The doctors and staff at the surgery would like to thank you all for your kind and heartfelt support since our earlier post about the uncertain future of the surgery.
“We have been overwhelmed by the level of support received from patients and the wider community in general.
“We are pleased to announce that we do have a salaried GP starting with us in April on a two-day-per-week basis.
“Whilst this is very welcome news, we are still keen to recruit another GP and will continue to advertise the post so please keep sharing far and wide.”
The surgery’s patients reacted with anger and sadness at its previous Facebook post warning it could soon close if it didn’t hire anyone.
As the Cambrian News reported, a petition launched in an attempt to save the surgery got nearly 500 signatures.
Dr Fish, who has worked at the surgery for more than 30 years, has called for immediate action to safeguard the long-term future of the small practice – which she argues will save other services and avert a ‘healthcare crisis.’
She warned that, in the event of Borth’s closure, the county could see at least two smaller GPs and several pharmacists close in the next five years, leaving only larger towns and villages with accessible care for their residents – and leaving many situated in rural areas stranded.