Sir – We write in response to your article (January 23) ‘Elderly will be left stranded if village’s GP surgery closes’: the statement that Wootton surgery supports more than 3,000 residents of Wootton village, as well as people in Boars Hill, Dry Sandford and Cumnor, is misleading.
Many of our registered patients who live in these areas choose to consult at the main surgery in Botley. Botley Medical Centre has 8,815 registered patients, and of those only 678 are from Wootton and surrounding villages. The actual number of registered patients from Wootton village is less than 330.
We are currently consulting with our patients and local community about the future of medical services at Wootton branch surgery. The consultation started on January 2, and will continue to March 27.
As part of this, we sent a letter to all our registered patients on January 6, stating our reasons for considering withdrawing from Wootton surgery and one of the main reasons for this is because the branch surgery is underused. This is clearly audited and the underuse of appointments at Wootton Branch Surgery has been looked at during inspection and accepted by the Care Quality Commission.
The surgery is also unsuitable, as it has no disabled access or disabled toilets, the heating system needs replacing, alongside the need for other general improvements and upgrades. We hope to continue working with the Botley and Wootton population on this important issue so that we can come to a satisfactory conclusion in the coming months.
Dr J.D.H. Chadwick
Dr A. Ballestero
Dr D. McEwen
The Partners
Botley Medical Centre
Oxford
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