A doctors' surgery will be moved several miles from its current site – against the wishes of the overwhelming majority of patients who gave their views.

Ravenscroft Medical Centre will move from its current home at 166 Golders Green Road in Golders Green to Finchley Memorial Hospital in Granville Road.

The move was agreed by the North Central London Primary Care Commissioning Committee in Common on Thursday (August 22).

It comes despite 86 per cent of more than 1,300 patients who responded to a consultation saying they were against the relocation.

Ravenscroft Medical Centre is rated ‘good’ by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and serves around 7,000 patients.

Finchley Memorial Hospital is nearly three-and-a-half miles away – and many patients warned they would not be able to travel to the new site.

But Barnet Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) pointed out there are eight GP practices close to Ravenscroft’s current site, all of which are rated good by the CQC.

Most of these surgeries have said they will welcome new patients, and the CCG believes they have a joint capacity to accept around 2,000 more patients.

The move is expected to save the CCG around £177,000 per year that it currently spends on empty space at Finchley Memorial because attempts to persuade a GP Practice to move there have not been successful.

The hospital, which reopened in 2013 following a major redevelopment, was originally designed to have a GP practice on site.

But the decision to move Ravenscroft has prompted Finchley and Golders Green Labour councillors to call for an urgent review of GP services in Barnet.

Cllr Sara Conway, Labour’s prospective parliamentary candidate for Finchley and Golders Green, said: “People across Finchley and Golders Green are already waiting two to four weeks to see a doctor.

“Moving Ravenscroft surgery was opposed by 86 per cent of respondents as they are losing a crucial local surgery.

“Conservative funding cuts and policy decisions over the past nine years are now really hurting our residents.”

Labour councillors fear regeneration schemes will place extra demand on GP services in the area.

Dr Subel, GP Partner at Ravenscroft Medical Centre said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for the practice and its patients.

“We intend to work hard to improve the health of our patients, reducing the number of visits patients need to make to the surgery and ensuring that when they do visit they can also benefit from all the other services available at Finchley Memorial Hospital.”

Kay Matthews, chief operating officer at Barnet CCG, added: “Ravenscroft Medical Centre and its partners intend to develop services that are at the forefront of local NHS improvements.

“Health prevention and co-ordinated care are essential if we are to tackle the growing burden on the NHS.”

The CCG said the move is not expected to take place before January 2020, and patients will be given eight weeks’ notice and clear information on options available to them.

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