‘Health centre axe will hit pensioners’ (From thisisoxfordshire)

‘Health centre axe will hit pensioners’

11:00am Thursday 2nd February 2012 in News By Ben Wilkinson

Mary Timbrell outside the West Oxford Health Centre

WEST Oxford patients are worried about their doctors’ surgery moving to Jericho.

The West Oxford Surgery, a branch of the Jericho Health Centre, will shut in May and move to a new building in the £11.5m redevelopment of the old Radcliffe Infirmary site.

The surgery opened in West Oxford Community Centre in 2001 to provide a basic GP service for residents until a new venue to accommodate both West Oxford and Jericho patients was built.

But some West Oxford residents fear the one-mile trip to the new health centre off Walton Street will make visiting a doctor harder.

Mary Timbrell, 74, from Duke Street, said there were not enough parking spaces at the new centre.

There will be three parking spaces and a drop-off bay, but otherwise visitors will have to use scarce on-street parking.

Miss Timbrell said: “If you are not feeling well you don’t want to be running around looking for a car parking space. It is the convenience of this little local surgery I have always appreciated.”

Mother-of-one Vicky Hirsch, of Alexandra Road, said the new centre was in an inconvenient spot as there were no direct buses.

The 50-year-old said: “It is a great pity for the area. It is going to impact the most vulnerable – the elderly, the people with young children, those who are disabled or those on a low income.

“It is short-sighted because in the end people using the surgery are more likely to arrive later because of traffic and some may be put off coming when they need to.”

She added: “A lot of people are feeling there is nothing they can do about it.”

There has been a surgery in the centre, off Botley Road at Botley Park, for 11 years and it is open from Monday to Friday.

It has nearly 6,000 registered Oxford patients.

Susanna Pressel, county councillor for West Central Oxford, wants the surgery to stay open. She said: “It is quite a long way and if you tried to drive, the traffic is horrendous at certain times of day.

“It is going to be a nightmare for people trying to get there with two sick children or if they are elderly.

“It is very worrying.”

Susan Libor, 80, of Earl Street, who has problems walking after two hip replacements, added: “It is very bad news. It is going to be hopeless for me.”

The new centre will house up to 12 GPs and bring together 13,557 patients from West Oxford and the Jericho area.

The ground floor surgery in the new three-storey building will include a larger waiting room, a dedicated child health clinic, and more clinical rooms.

Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust spokesman Julia Stackhouse said the new surgery would be more modern and efficient.

She added: “For those patients that do not wish to move to the new health centre, staff will be available to discuss and support them to move to another surgery of their choice.”

GPs will be on hand to talk to patients about the changes at the West Oxford surgery on Saturday from 9.30-11am.