Issue - meetings

Resolved: the Committee resolved to advise Mayor and Cabinet of the following:

Noting the confusion among residents about what is happening, the Committee recommends that the Mayor urges representatives from the Grove Park community, the ICO Health Group, the Lewisham CCG, Grove Park ward councillors, the Cabinet Member for Health, Wellbeing & Older People, and the Lewisham Local Medical and Pharmaceutical Committees to meet as soon as possible to discuss the future of primary care services in Grove Park, in particular to clarify the proposals for 54 Chinbrook Road and the process that is being followed. 

Councillor Colin Elliot introduced the item. The following key points were noted:

6.1 There is a lot of concern locally about the consolidation of primary care services in Grove Park and the intention to develop a new purpose-built Health Centre.

6.2 There is particular concern among residents about the consultation process and the information provided to residents. Some people felt led to believe that there would be no GP services in Grove Park if the proposal for a new health centre at Chinbrook Road didn’t go ahead. There was also concern that the consultation process didn’t involve some of the residents living closest to the proposed health centre.

6.3 People feel like they haven’t been able to properly voice their concerns and that a good consultation, with some direction from the CCG on what local needs are, would have avoided this current situation.

6.4 Local ward councillors also feel that they should have been consulted earlier and involved in the consideration of alternative proposals.

6.5 The CCG confirmed residents were responding to the planning application submitted by the provider of GP services in Grove Park, the ICO Health Group), and not an NHS process. The CCG’s Primary Care Commissioning Committee has yet to formally review proposals from the ICO Health Group.

6.7 The CCG confirmed its responsibility to ensure that, irrespective of who the provider of those services might be, that Grove Park residents should have reasonable access to core primary care services. This current consultation, however, is not about the health needs of the area – it is about planning consent to use a residential building for different purpose.

6.8 The Committee expressed concern about the impression given to some residents that their GP services could be lost if the proposal does not go ahead and suggested that if a conversation between the parties involved had happened earlier the situation may not have escalated like it has.

Resolved: the Committee resolved to advise Mayor and Cabinet of the following:

Noting the confusion among residents about what is happening, the Committee recommends that the Mayor urges representatives from the Grove Park community, the ICO Health Group, the Lewisham CCG, Grove Park ward councillors, the Cabinet Member for Health, Wellbeing & Older People, and the Lewisham Local Medical and Pharmaceutical Committees to meet as soon as possible to discuss the future of primary care services in Grove Park, in particular to clarify the proposals for 54 Chinbrook Road and the process that is being followed.