GP practice forced to vacate due to £60,000 service charges

A GP practice that has been forced to leave part of its premises due to rising service charges has complained that the area had been empty for nine months, Pulse has reported.

GPs at the Island Health Centre said having to give up the first floor of the building meant losing space for teaching and recruiting new GPs at a time when their staff levels are extremely low.

And since the floor has been vacated, it has sat empty, with GPs saying that they now believe the charitable trust that owns the premise could have supported the practice better.

As Pulse reported in January, the practice’s landlord had pushed building service charges up to more than £60,000 a year.

The GPs are worried about the future viability of the practice but have been given support by patients who have signed a petition to stop it from closing.

Meanwhile, Tower Hamlets mayor John Briggs and NHS Tower Hamlets CCG chair Sam Everington will be meeting next week to discuss the matter.

Jo Richardson, Island Health Centre GP partner, said: “We are very disappointed that the charity which owns the building and has around £1 million of cash assets has not been more supportive of the practice and of the NHS more generally, at a time when all services are under financial pressure.

“Already, we are feeling cramped on the ground floor. Importantly we have also lost teaching and training space, which is a sad loss when we are desperate to recruit GPs.”

Responding, a spokesperson from the Island Health Trust who is the landlord of the building, said: “We are of course interested and supportive of inclusive health provision and this is why we are currently evaluating our strategy to maximise our impact within the local community.

“To ensure that this is successful, we are planning on engaging publicly once our initial strategy is set in order to ensure that we match local needs.”