A petition to save Isle of Wight GP surgeries from being closed has been created by Island resident, Rosemary Cantwell.
A plan by the Isle of Wight Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to reshape the Island’s GP service could see surgeries in Brading, Godshill, Lake, Niton and Yarmouth close, with patients having to travel much further than usual to see a GP.
The petition has attracted over 100 signatures so far and will run until 30th May 2017.
Rosemary is urging residents to support the petition to let the CCG know their feelings about the plans.
Scrap the STP and fund the NHS properly
An online petition has also been created calling on the Government to scrap the idea of the Sustainable Transformation Plans (STPs) across the country and instead, properly fund the National Health Service (NHS).
Draft plans for the Isle of Wight STP were revealed by OnTheWight in September, with the official being released last month.
The plan could see many more Islanders having to travel to the mainland for health services. Some fear it could ultimately lead to St Mary’s Hospital providing just A&E services.
Executive member refused to endorse STP
The STP was the subject of debate at this week’s Isle of Wight council Health and Wellbeing board where Executive member for Adult Social Care and Integration, Steve Stubbings, refused to endorse the plan due to a lack of detail and concerns over travelling times for Island patients.
The petition has already attracted almost 5,000 signatures, seven of which are from the Isle of Wight.
The petition reads,
The UK spends less on health as a share of its GDP than most other G7 countries. Our NHS is under pressure as never before and is in danger of failure.
The NHS is effectively only getting an increase of 0.95% per year.
The STP programme will close A&Es and essential services across the country.
For more detail – including links The King’s Fund research – see the petition.
Image: christinawelsh under CC BY 2.0
