Hundreds of patients told to find new GP by doctor's surgery in Yatton
A medical practice in North Somerset is removing hundreds of patients from its list - following a surge in demand for its services.
Mendip Vale Medical Practice, which has surgeries in Clevedon, Yatton, St Georges in Worle and Langford, is writing to 600 patients informing them they will have to register with a new GP.
The move follows a spike in the number of patients registering with the practice - which has 47,000 patients on its books.
In the last month alone, the practice has seen more than 400 new people register as patients.
The change will mean that people no longer deemed to be in the practice’s main catchment areas will be written to, asking them to register with a new practice closer to home.
Mendip Vale Medical Practice managing partner David Clark said: “We are having to take people off our list who no longer live in our catchment area.
“Last month we had more than 400 new patients register with us in North Somerset which is a huge increase.
"This is for a mix of reasons including the additional housing in the area and also a migration of patients moving from other practices to see if they can get a better service elsewhere.
“It’s not a decision we have taken easily. But we have to protect the services for patients within our area.
"Removing people who are no longer in our catchment area is a fair and equitable way of reducing numbers.
“We only have a finite amount of capacity.”
People have also been raising concerns about the length of the wait to see a doctor for a non-routine appointment, with some patients having to wait several weeks.
But the practice says the number of available appointments has increased in the last year.
Between November 2021 and November 2022, there were 288,816 appointments - up by 9,262 in the same period the previous year.
Mr Clark said people needing to be seen urgently are still able to get a same-day appointment and the practice has also introduced an e-consult service for people to contact a GP online.
All e-consult queries are reviewed within 72 hours and an appointment is made with a suitable medical practitioner.
Mr Clark said along with the jump in patient numbers, the demand for appointments had also increased due to delays in acute services.
He said: “We now see the average patient about four times a year and this has increased on previous levels.
"The delay in acute services where someone needing treatment can face a wait of up to 100 weeks has contributed to this.
“There are also long delays in people getting help with their mental health. This means that during this wait for treatment, patients come to see us more often for help with managing their conditions.
“With the increased demand due to the waits and additional housing bringing in new people it is creating pressure in the system and a perfect storm.”
The rise in patients registering at the practice comes at the same time as more homes are planned for Yatton.
Persimmon Homes has announced plans to build 280 homes on a 13-hectare site at The Batch on the western fringes of the village.