NHS West Suffolk Clinical Commissioning Group
Dr Ed Garret – Chief Operating Officer;

Thank you for your communication regarding the recent closure of the Barham & Claydon GP Surgery. Whilst we do acknowledge that the surgery was an important community asset, the CCG has a responsibility to ensure that primary medical services are delivered in the safest, most effective and efficient way to patients across the locality. Unfortunately, due to various issues at the Barham & Claydon Surgery and the realisation that patients would not continue to receive the high quality service that they were used to, the CCG mutually agreed with the partners of the Barham & Claydon Surgery that its contract for primary medical services should be terminated at the end of June 2021.

 However, I can assure you that there were no gaps in access to primary care following this termination, as all patients registered with the surgery were allocated to a number of other local surgeries. Patients subsequently had the opportunity to re-register with another surgery if the allocated surgery was not convenient or suitable for them. The CCG supported the Barham & Claydon Surgery to ensure that the transfer of all patients was as smooth as possible, paying particular attention to those identified as frail and/or vulnerable. If there is any individual who needs further support and is happy to share their details, Claire Pemberton, Head of Primary Care for the area, is happy to help with their practice allocation and can be contacted securely via clairepemberton@nhs.net.

The CCG supported Dr Naqvi on a daily basis and also met with the practice every week to discuss progress, we also commissioned an experienced Practice Manager to support them from within the practice throughout the whole closure process.

The CCG recognises that the closure of the Barham & Claydon Surgery and planned housing developments has resulted / will result in capacity issues at the surrounding local surgeries and is therefore working closely with estates colleagues and system partners.

I hope that this is a helpful response but if you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact Claire or me.

Ed Garrett   
email  ed.garratt@nhs.net

Barham Parish Council would encourage residents of Barham & Claydon to write directly to Ed and Claire as detailed above.