10/08/2021 update: Patient letters have now been sent notifying patients of their new GP practice. Please don’t re-register with a new practice but wait for your letter to arrive. An updated patient question and answer sheet is also available.
After receiving your letter, you can choose to register at a practice of your choice but at present our priority is to ensure the safety of our patients and would ask that Victoria Park patients wait three weeks before registering with another practice. This will enable practices to focus on ensuring Victoria Park patients have ongoing access to care. This will also allow time for your patient record to be allocated to your new practice and so it can then be securely transferred to another practice. We are sorry that this will take longer than we would like. We are focusing on making sure patients with immediate care needs are dealt with first. Thank you for your patience.
16/08/2021 Victoria Park patients transferred to Redgate Medical Practice and Somerset Bridge Medical Centre update: There has been a delay in transferring patient records from Victoria Park to Redgate Medical Centre and Somerset Bridge Medical Centre. The transfer will be completed by Wednesday 18 August. The delay is outside of the control of the practice. Practice staff are working hard to ensure that patients who need to access urgent care are able to. If you require urgent care from the practice please contact the surgery in the usual way. Thank you for your patience.
03/09/2021 update: the Victoria Park information line is now closed, if you have any further queries relating to the closure of Victoria Park Medical Centre please contact the CCG’s PALS on 08000 851067 or somccg.pals@nhs.net.
Due to ongoing clinical staffing shortages at Victoria Park Medical Centre, the very difficult decision has been taken to close the Practice effective from Wednesday 11 August 2021.
Over the past few weeks, we have worked closely together with both practice staff and neighbouring GP practices to try to find a solution to continue to provide safe patient services at the practice. All possible alternative options have been explored, but it has not been possible to find a way to provide a permanent, adequate safe service at the practice.
This is not a decision that has been taken lightly, and our priority continues to be the safety of our patients and to ensure that you can continue to access local healthcare services when needed.
What this means for registered patients
This means that the practice will shut its doors and stop providing patient care at the practice on Wednesday 11 August 2021.
There is no action registered patients need to take. You will receive a letter with details of your new practice. Your patient record will be securely transferred to your new practice.
During this transition period, patients can continue to access same day urgent care by contacting Victoria Park Medical Centre in the usual way. Patients will be triaged by the surgery and arrangements will be made for care to take place at the most appropriate alternative practice or healthcare service as required.
If you need to book a routine GP appointment we would ask that you please wait until after Wednesday 11 August and contact your new practice.
If you need urgent medical help or advice but it’s not a life-threatening situation you can also call the NHS 111 service by dialling 111. NHS 111 is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Calls are free from landlines and mobile phones. You can also access 111 online at 111.nhs.uk
For immediate, life-threatening emergencies, you should call 999.
The Jhoots community pharmacy at Victoria Park remains open and provides a wide range of services which patients can continue to access. Patients can continue to have their prescriptions dispensed at the Jhoots Victoria Park branch if they wish. All patients have the right to choose which pharmacy dispenses their prescription.
Our priority is to ensure that you have continued access to a full range of GP services and care after this date.
You will be allocated another local GP practice and your patient record will automatically be sent to this practice. You will be notified of this practice by letter.
After you have received details of your new practice, you can choose to register with a different GP practice of your own choice if you would prefer. Details of how to do this can be found on NHS Choices.
We have produced a Q&A document to help answer any questions you may have. This is also enclosed. Information is also available on the CCG and the Practice website:
We appreciate this may be an unsettling time for patients, but please be assured that we are working closely with staff from Victoria Park Medical Centre and neighbouring GP surgeries to support the transition of patients to other local GP practices to ensure you have ongoing access to care.
To allow staff to focus on supporting the transition of patients to alternative GP practices, we would ask you not to contact the surgery directly if you have any queries regarding the closure. If you have any questions regarding the process or about the future provision of services please contact the CCG’s PALS service somccg.pals@nhs.net or 08000 851 067.
If you have any queries about your current individual care, please contact Victoria Medical Practice direct.
We would like to thank the practice staff, supporting local practices and healthcare services who have all been working incredibly hard together, in challenging circumstances, to support patients to ensure those most in need of care were able to access the support they needed.
The CCG will engage with Bridgwater residents to gather comments regarding the provision of services in the local area. This feedback will be used to inform any proposals for future services in the area.
Thank you for your continued patience and support. We will continue to provide you with any further updates directly.