Halesowen GP surgery to reopen after sudden closure

Patients at the Coombswood Surgery in Halesowen were stunned when they turned up for appointments at the end of May, only to find it shut and a bailiff's note on the door.

At a meeting of the Primary Care Commissioning Committee in the town on Friday, which was packed out with patients looking for answers, it was announced that the practice is now due to re-open with a provisional date of October 17.

The committee confirmed that the closure had come about due to a dispute over rent, but many attendees left unhappy that they were not given a better explanation at the meeting held at the Zion Christian Centre.

Patient at the surgery for more than 30 years, Pauline Riley, said: "Closing like that is not something that the surgery would want to be famous, or infamous, for."

Ms Riley added: "It was not made clear to us that questions would have to be submitted to be answered at the meeting. And you could only submit them by email, which not everyone here has access to."

Member of the patient participation group, Jenny Woolford, said: "This has been a bit of a ticking time bomb. I think the committee did well to stop it going off, and obviously we are very pleased that the situation has been resolved."

The surgery in Coombs Road, was taken over two years ago by Stourside Medical Practice, who also oversee Halesowen Health Centre and Tenlands Road Surgery.

Also at the meeting was Rose Cooke, daughter of the landlord Dr Humphrey Akufo-tetteh, who originally opened the surgery back in 1985 before retiring three years ago.

She said: "For 10 months the rent was not paid. They were given warnings but they left us with no choice.

"It has only been resolved because the CCG will now be paying the rent directly to the landlord."

Announcing the reopening, chairman of the committee Steve Wellings said: "Dudley CCG Primary Care Commissioning Committee is delighted for the people of Halesowen, to finally see the resolution to the private landlord dispute and to hear that a new lease has been signed for Coombswood Surgery.

"We did not expect the branch surgery to close and we are aware of the impact that this has had on local people in Halesowen.

"Throughout the last few months we have acted on the information we had available and the advice given to us by our regulator, NHS England.

"We have always acted in the interests of the patients and have been disappointed at the length of time that this dispute has taken to resolve."