‘WHOSE GP surgeries? Our GP surgeries?’ rang out through the streets of east London as over 200 local residents, trade unionists, health workers and campaigners marched on Thursday to stop the closure of their GP surgeries.
Cuts to the Minimum Practice Income Guarantee income (MPIG) has meant that 98 GP surgeries in the most deprived areas of the UK are threatened with closure, 22 of which are in east London.
The lively march passed surgery after surgery through the east London area with more and more local residents joining in.
On the march, there were delegations from the Unite union, waving flags and banners from City and Hackney BMA and Hackney Keep our NHS Public.
Carol Ackroyd from Hackney Keep our NHS public said: ‘We are protesting against cuts and privatisation and at this point 12 GP surgeries in Hackney alone are threatened with closure because of the MPIG cuts.
‘MPIG is additional funding that is given to GP surgeries in deprived areas to cover the extra costs of working in areas where there are high levels of poor health.’
Chair of the BMA GPs Committee, Dr.Chaand Nagpaul joined the march as it passed through Whitechapel. He told News Line: ‘We have a situation where GP practices in some of the most deprived communities in London, through the phasing out of the MPIG are threatened with closure.
‘These are practices that have a dedicated services to a very needy population. Yes we will lose jobs, staff and doctors but most importantly these are cuts that will have a negative effect on our patients health and wellbeing and that is the most important thing.
‘These cuts will mean either a reduced service for our patients or no service at all. There is no way that this is acceptable to patients as you can see from this march today. This government should find this unacceptable as well.
‘This is part of a wider campaign to receive recognition of the funding crisis effecting GP practices across the entire country.
‘I would also like to say, that at our conference GP’s strongly rejected the move to charge patients to see a GP. This was a great victory that we threw out the prospect of GP charges at our conference, this was also extremely important.’
The march began outside St. Katherine Docks GP practice, built into the bottem of a council estate.
St. Katherine Docks is one of the practices that is threatened with closure.
Kim Cousins wearing a ‘Save St. Katherine Docks’ t-shirt said: ‘I am part of the reception team at St Katherine Docks practice. We are the jewel in the crown, the heart of the community and the community needs us and we need the community. We need to fight for the community and that is why we are here today.’
Patricia Score said: ‘I am at patient at St Katherine Docks practice. And have been since the moment the flats were opened 25 years ago. We were under Dr.Mike and Dr.Patel. All the other surgeries that are threatened must also have lovely doctors and feel the same as us, save our practice!’
Her friend Silvia Jacobs said: ‘You will never find another practice like this or another doctor.’ Maisie Waller added: ‘He knows us all by our first name, he will always make time to see us.’
Dr. Patel, who runs St.Katherine Docks, said: ‘This practice has been here for 25 years and I have been here for 10 years. We provide a continuity of care so that we have had only two doctors in 25 years and that is what patients want, a named GP someone they can rely on and someone they know.’
Kathleen Ballard said: ‘Dr. Patel is the best doctor I have ever had. His practice is wonderful, they are very patient orientated. In the United States, where I am originally from you have to have health insurance through a private company or through your employer.
‘If you do not have health insurance the only thing you can do is turn up at the emergency room and hope that you might be seen. It is not socialised medicine in the states, if you have no insurance you are on your own. The NHS is fabulous, it provides a standard of care for everyone. The NHS is something that I am going to fight for.’
Anazur Rahman, who works as an assistant practice manager at St. Katherine Docks, said: ‘We want the government to leave us alone and stop the funding cuts. The Minimum Practice Income Guarantee is essential for the practice to survive.
‘If they cut that, it will have a big impact on our services. It is a disgrace that the government is threatening to close 98 practices. Where are the patients going to go?
‘Families with young children need immediate access to their GP. Some patients are house bound and rely on home visits.’
Christine Hulbert, a receptionist working at Jubilee Street practice said: ‘Our practice is under threat of closure. Our patients are seen on the same day that they come in. I have worked at this practice for 14 years, it is essential for the community.
‘We have 11,000 patients and they are used to being well looked after. Private treatment centres are useless, you cannot get appointments, you cannot get referred, you never see the same doctor twice.
‘We are being penalised, they are cutting our funding, we have to fight. What they really want is to just have privately run mega surgeries. Of course if that happens, the smaller surgeries will go and patients will have to travel for miles.
‘I was born and brought up under the NHS and I am not about to stand by and watch them try and destroy what we built.’
Coral Jones from the BMA GP’s from Hackney said: ‘Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Newham have a quarter of these 98 surgeries threatened with closure from around the country.
‘These boroughs, the most deprived areas, are being hit hardest by these cuts. We have added up the losses in these boroughs and it comes to millions.’
Myra Garrett who uses the threatened Jubilee Street practice said: ‘I think that Jubilee Street is a fabulous practice. They do all sorts of things, from minor surgery to falls prevention classes, they are keen for patients to be involved.
‘My worst fear is that they will shut our surgeries down. We have had two practices in East London which were privatised and they both failed! The companies walked away from the contracts because they could not manage the contracts. Privatisation does not work.’
The march passed by 12 surgeries in East London starting at St. Katherine Docks then Wapping Green, City WellBeing, Albion, Health E1, Brayford Square, Jubilee Street, Lime House, Newbury Close, Chris Street, St Andrews, Stroudbury Walk and Bromley-by-Bow.
