NHS trust bosses have apologised for the way they handled the shock closure of a clinic and have vowed to improve consultation in future.
Patients were left stunned when Norton Clinic shut its doors in February, with services and staff being moved to other sites.
Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent NHS Partnership Trust, which owns the clinic and provided some of the services based there, now accepts that the process was handled badly, and says lessons will be learnt.
The adults and neighbourhoods overview and scrutiny committee at Stoke-on-Trent City Council grilled Claire Bailey, SSOTP’s acting director of strategy, business and redesign, on what had happened.
SSOTP chief executive Neil Carr was unable to attend the meeting himself, but Ms Bailey relayed his apologies to the committee.
She said: “Neil is really apologetic. There could be improvements in communications as well as consultation.
“We’re going to look into how the consultation was carried out, and how the events were communicated, to see what we could do differently in future. We need to make sure that lessons are learnt.”
SSOTP’s podiatry service moved out of the clinic in September, while health visitors were relocated to Norton Children’s Centre in November.
The University Hospitals of North Midlands’ had also used the clinic for anticoagulation appointments, but these were moved to Smallthorne Health Centre and Haywood Hospital.
Councillor Dave Evans, ward member for Baddeley, Milton and Norton, told the committee that the closure had come as a surprise even to him.
He said: “I didn’t know about this, and I only live across the road. It’s been handled shambolically, if I’m honest. A notice wasn’t even put up telling people what was happening.”
Simmy Akhtar, chief officer at Healthwatch Stoke-on-Trent, told the committee that she was also frustrated at the way the closure had been handled, and said communication between organisations had to improve.
Stoke-on-Trent Clinical Commissioning Group has confirmed that Apsley Surgery would continue to operate a satellite site at Norton Clinic.
CCG accountable officer Marcus Warnes told the committee: “I’d like to give assurances that GP services will continue to operate from that practice.”
Committee chairwoman Joan Bell called on SSOTP to ensure better consultation as it continued its estate rationalisation programme.
She said: “Lessons need to be learnt. The committee is disappointed at the lack of consultation.”
Article originally published on Stoke Sentinel
