Whitehaven Medical Centre to close
A west Cumbrian GP surgery that serves more than 4,000 patients is closing.
Whitehaven Medical Practice has announced it will close down on 31 July 2018.
Efforts are now underway to find new practices for the 4,200 patients affected.
It will mean other surgeries have to take hundreds of additional patients onto their already busy workloads.
NHS bosses are reassuring those affected that nobody will be left without a GP.
However individuals will not be able to choose their new practice.
Instead a place will be allocated by the NHS to each patient.
They will then have to stay with that surgery for three months, after which they will be able to apply to move if preferred.
NHS England has sent out letters to all affected patients informing them of the closure. They will then receive another letter before July 31 confirming their new practice.
Patients are being urged to continue using the Whitehaven Medical Practice as normal until 31 July.