News | GP crisis
downsmail.co.uk Doctor quits due to pressure
ALONG-SERVINGGP admits he had little choice but to bring forward his retirement as the strain on himbecame toomuch.
Despite the fact that his retirement
has left patients fearing they will have no surgeryprovision inAlling- ton, not a single one has complained about his decision. In a heartfelt letter to patients,
RobertMennie (61) announced that he would be leaving the Allington ParkGP surgery onMay 31. Itwas a double blow for residents of the area, as it was also revealed that nearby Allington Clinic would also be shutting its doors on the same day, leaving more than 5,000 pa- tients needing a newGP. Dr Mennie told DownsMail that
he fears other areas could also be similarly affected. “GPs work so hard, and I think
thepublicdoes realise that,” he said. “The workload is very heavy and I really think this sort of thing might happen elsewhere too. “Five years ago, Imight have tried to carry on, but I feel that the time is
GP ‘deserves
his retirement’ A MUM who was diagnosed with a brain tumour after visit- ing theAllington Park Surgery is co-ordinating a collection for the retiringDrMennie. Clare Geeves was diagnosed
in 2015 and spoke highly of the care she receivedat thepractice. “When I first saw the news
on Facebook I thought I had to do something,” she said. “Most doctorswill only have
one patient in their career who has a brain tumour, butwhen I saw him, I was only 36 and he was so thorough. “Other doctors might have
just sentme onmyway, but he really looked after me, sorted out a scan and then,when Iwas diagnosed, I spoke to him and he made sure I got my pills straight away.” MrsGeeves admits the boom
in housing is causing an issue. “They have built so many
new houses in the area,” she added. “DrMennie has been trying
to sort something out for years, but he hasn’t been able to. “Hewillbemuchmissedand
it is such a shame, but he de- serves his retirement.” Details of the collection are available at the surgery.
8 Maidstone May 2018 “I’ve got four daughters and
they’re all registered here, so all five of us need to find a newsurgery.” Another patient, Ann Bates, said:
“I amseriously concerned about the future as I am one of those people who rely on repeat prescriptions being available and, as yet, I have no idea which surgery I shall be allo- cated. “I understand that all the local
Patient Larissa Rundle is devastated by the loss of Dr RobertMennie
right nowtomove on. “None of my patients have com-
plained or blamedme – they are all very accepting ofmy decision.” Patients at the surgery said they
were “gutted” by the news of Dr Mennie’s departure, and fear that they may have to travel long dis- tances to get treatment in the future.
Among them is Larissa Rundle,
who has been a patient of DrMen- nie’s for 27 years. She said: “He has always been the
best GP. I am devastated that he’s leaving, it’s such amassive loss. “Dr Mennie is a fantastic GP, he
still calls patients in the evenings and I’mgoing tomiss himsomuch.
surgeries are already full andnot re- ally able to take onmore patients. It is not helped by the fact that there has been such an explosion of de- velopment in the area,with somany morepeople applying forGPplaces. “As I understand it, no questions
were asked of local surgeries re- garding availability before planning permissions were granted, so this has taken everyone by surprise, though a blind man could see that DrMennie is not a youngman and would be retiring soon anyway.”
‘Long hours have become toomuch’
ROBERT MENNIE announced his re- tirement with an open letter to pa- tients, explaining why he feels it is time for himto call it a day. It said: “Over the last two years, I
have started to feel the pressure of working very long hours – often 12 or more per day. This is not uncommon, as a recent poll showed about a third of GPswork over 12 hours a day. “A solution might be to employ
more doctors in the practice, but this is difficult because of recruitment is- sues and a lack of
space.At this stage in my career, the long hours have
been toomuch forme. As a result of this, toexpeditemy retirement, Ihave made the difficult decision to resign myNHS contract.” Dr Mennie, a GP for 32 years, said
he had been trying for the past three years to arrange his retirement, but had been left frustrated. Amergerwitha neighbouringprac-
tice fell through and plans for a new premises on the nearbyWaitrose car park were unworkable, due to a NHS policy not to fund new premises for surgeries of fewer than 8,000 pa- tients.
He said: “Iwill be co-operatingwith
West Kent CCG Primary Care Man- agement Teamto ensure the transfer of care of all of my patients to their new GPs which will occur on June 1. Allington Park Surgery will close, but all patients will be registered with a newGP. “As I have said, this has been a dif-
ficult decision and I amsorry that the notice for doing this has been short. Our team at the surgery have been supportive and understand my rea- sons fordoingthis,andIhope youwill have some understanding, also.”
Crisis ‘is council negligence’
THE New Allington Action Group believes “extreme negligence” by Maidstone Borough Council is be- hind the crisis facing local patients. Bothdoctor’s surgeries in the area,
which has already seen a number of new homes built nearby, will close theirdoors onMay 31, leavingmore than 5,000 patients needing to finda newGP. The group says it has been warn-
ing of these issues for a number of years. “We knewthis daywould come,”
Angela Poletti said. “As a campaign group for the past four years, we have been bringing to the attention of the Plannning Authorities that this situationwould happen.
“We had requested that an envi-
ronmental impact assessment and full consultation fromtheNHSwas required on theHermitage ParkVil- lage, but were told it was not mandatory and therefore planning officers did not require it. “There were hundreds of letters
from residents saying that infra- structure must come before devel- opment, and they just did not listen. This is extreme negligence on the part of planning officers and coun- cillors alike.” The Hermitage Park Village will
bring 500 new homes to the catch- ment area, and Mrs Poletti is con- cernedabout the impact on the area. “More than half of the residents
here are pensioners, but the plan- ning authorities ignored us,” she added. “The two doctors have made it
clear that they have taken early re- tirement due to extreme pressure of work caused by ever-increasing pa- tient numbers, and the huge impact of excessive new housing develop- mentwill only add to that. “Even if the 5,000 patients are re-
located to the five existing local sur- geries, all of which are full and taking no newpatients, itwillmean at least an extra 1,000 patients at each surgery, andwe do not believe this is safe.” The council was approached for
a comment.
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