South Holland District Council to raise issues with area’s GP surgeries with Lincolnshire Integrated Care Board

Health officials will be asked to answer what people are paying for – after councillors have raised concerns about the doctors surgeries.

Cramped medical centres and patients struggling to get a face-to-face appointment were among the problems highlighted during the last South Holland District Council Performance Monitoring Panel meeting.

Councillors are now hoping to grill a representative of Lincolnshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) to explain what that people are getting for their National Insurance contributions.

The ICB has been promising for some time to undertake a review of the health service requirements for Spalding but so far the work has not been completed, with leaders blaming the crisis engulfing frontline NHS workers.

Speaking at Wednesday’s meeting Coun David Wilkinson, who represents Long Sutton, stated that people are giving up in trying to get an appointment.

He said: “People are finding it extremely difficult to get a appointment out of them. Not getting through and finding consultation it’s a similar thing to the police issue people are giving up.

“We are paying the NHS for this service. Most doctors surgeries are private enterprises but what is in the provision of the service? Is there anything to say ‘you have to offer a face to face consultation’? What are the NHS paying for.

Sutton Bridge councillor Chris Brewis is a governor at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn highlighted the problems seen elsewhere in the health service.

He said: “People turn up to A&E at the hospital and are putting pressure in different directions. I think it needs to be addressed quite urgently as it is becoming a pressure problem.

Coun Brewis called for senior health official to come to the panel.

Committee chairman Bryan Alcock said the panel wanted to understand the reasons behind the problems the service is suffering.

He added: “I know in Crowland they haven’t got sufficient space for the doctors to operate.”

Coun Angela Harrison told the meeting that she had tried to get an appointment two weeks ago.

She said: “I was told now we have 9,000 patients registered as we only have 1.5 doctors so there are no appointments.”