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Centre in Chiltern Close claim they have been unable to get appoint- ments there for months, being di- verted to neighbouring practices in Shepway and Grove Green. Elderly patients and parents with
MPbacks bale to keep surgery Area popular
prams and toddlers have been in- convenienced the most, with a round trip of more than three hours, involving two bus journeys each way, a meeting at St Nicholas’ Church, Otham, heard. Doing the trip by taxi costs £15. Mid Kent and Faversham MP
Helen Whately was invited to meet patients,whotoldhowservices had been wound down and were now unavailable. They said the surgery was being used as a storage facility for furniture and equipment from the sister practice at Shepway, which is undergoing a £250,000 re- furbishment and building exten- sion. GP Dr Kulvinder Singh admitted
to the Downs Mail that the centre had been used for storage while work was taking place at Shepway but he expected this to be completed within a fewweeks. However, he could not confirm whether the Spires would re-open. He said: “That decision is out of
our hands. We are quite happy to provide a service with the best pos- sible quality of care, whether that be at place A, B, C, but someone needs to provide the resources.” Mrs Whately said:“NHSEngland
is very unhappy about what this practice is doing.” She said NHS South East, which commissioned the GP service, was unaware that a public consultation had not taken
Cllr Gary Cooke, MP Helen Whately and Cllr Roz Cheesman at the meeting at St Nicholas’ Church in Otham
place about the future of the centre. Dr Singh has since told theDowns
Mail he expects a public consulta- tion would start shortly. The meeting at Otham Church
heard that Dr Singh had earlier told NHS England that the Spires was “not fit for purpose” and “would not pass a CQC inspection”. Cllr Gary Cooke told the meeting:
“We need to convey a very clear message to the NHS that the resi- dents want to keep their surgery here and if Dr Singh does not want to do it, we need to find someone who can.” For months, residents had been
told there were “no appointments available” at the Spires. But parish council chairman Cllr Roz Cheesman discovered that aGPwas actually only present for two to six appointments aweek – and on some weeks, none at all. Shen said: “We did not realise for
a long time what was going on. Some patients have already moved practices because of the lack of serv- ice and now the surgery argues that it is being under-used. That is be- cause nobody can get an appoint- ment.” Ward Cllr Gordon Newton said:
“This is a systematic plan that has gone through without any consulta- tion whatsoever.” Mrs Whately said she would take
the points raised back to the NHS and discuss the possible alternatives with them. She said: “The services they have commissioned are clearly not being delivered.” A spokesman for NHS England
said: “Downswood surgery is not closed. The practice is unable to pro- vide clinical services at present from this site and patients are being di- rected to Shepway Medical Centre.” The patients’ meeting was called
at short notice and Dr Singhwas un- able to attend. Another meeting is due to take place between council- lors and NHS England in Novem- ber. Aspokesman for the surgery said:
“The Medical Centre Group operate services across three sites; Grove Green, Shepway and Downswood. “The Shepway site is currently undergoing major refurbishment and it has become necessary to re-lo- cate the administrative staff from Shepway to Downswood. “Prior to this, Downswood was under-utilised with only a very small number of patients attending
Biggins is guest at park ceremony
LARGER-than-life TV personality Christopher Biggins has opened the final stage of the £1.2mmake-over at Cobtree Manor Park. Saying he was pleased to be away
fromLondon, he described the park as “a fantastic community facility”, and a fitting tribute to the park’s former owner, Sir Garrard Tyrwhitt-Drake. “It was his wish that this should be
used for the benefit of the people of Maidstone, and that dream has be- come a reality,” he said. He paid tribute to the 12-times
mayor, saying he had done more for the community than any other Maid- stone person. Hethanked the trust for overseeing
the transformation of the park and its £300,000 donation for the cafe. For details see the Borough Update section in the centre of this paper.
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Christopher Biggins (centre), incoming chairman of Cobtree Manor Trust Roger Hext (left), and Maidstone mayor Daniel Moriarty meet some of the youngsters using the play area at the park
Maidstone East November 2015
A PUBLIC consultation is to be carried out into the future of the Downswood doctor’s surgery after angry residents enlisted the help of their MP. Patients of the Spires Medical
with families COUNCILLORGordon Newton said Downswood – a former quarry – was an example of one of the best brownfield developments ever. He said that, because of its facil-
ities and amenities and proximity to both countryside and town, it as particularly attractive to young families or people looking to down- size. He said: “It has a very good pre-
school and this potential closure is a really serious problem for moth- ers who are carrying children around and who do not have ac- cess to a car. “Dr Singh has done his patients a
real dis-service. He has deprived young mums and elderly people of a valuable service.”
More patients THE surgerywas built 30 years ago, as part of the Downswood devel- opment, to serve the local commu- nity.
The meeting heard that with
more than 3,200 new homes planned for the area, its services would be even more in demand.
during theweek, so it seemed a log- icalway to accommodate our needs and request that patients attend ei- ther the nearby Grove Green or Shepway branches for their consul- tations. “We sincerely apologise for the disruption and inconvenience caused to patients at Downswood.”
Golf success
THE Tudor Park Hotel at Bearsted is celebrating one of its best seasons of competitive golf. The Marriott Hotel and Country
Club has chalked up a host of golf- ing victories this summer, the latest coming when the Tudor Park Mail on Sunday team won their quarter- final match. They now go on to the semi-finals in Spain in November. The Tudor Park East Kent
Evening League team were crowned league champions by half a point over Boughton Golf Club. Tudor Park also became division
1 champions following a 5-0 home victory over Hempstead Forest in September. This win won the team promotion back to the Invicta Pre- mier League. The William Hunt Trilby Tour Championship of Kent, held at the hotel, can be seen on Sky Sports 4 on Monday, November 23.
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