Theresa Villiers, MP for Chipping Barnet, has asked for an urgent meeting with NHS England, NHS Property Services and Barnet’s NHS Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to press for progress on getting East Barnet Health Centre open again.
Ms Villiers said “I am concerned that the East Barnet Health Centre has been closed for so long and there is still no definite plan in place for when it will re-open.”
“I know how concerned my East Barnet constituents are on this issue. It is vital that the health centre re-opens. I have raised this issue with NHS Property Services who assure me that they are committed to providing a fit-for-purpose building for GP services in East Barnet.”
“I have been assured that the NHS has no plans to sell the site for housing development. This is welcome news since there is a clear need for facilities for GP services and primary care in East Barnet. The big question is how long will it take for the centre to be re-opened. I am campaigning to see this happens as soon as possible. The long delay in getting the Brunswick Park Health Centre re-opened was not acceptable and no one wants to see that repeated in this case.”
“I am asking for an urgent meeting with the three decision-making bodies involved here: NHS England, NHS Property Services and Barnet’s local NHS Clinical Commissioning Group. I will be urging them to get a decision made on whether to refurbish or rebuild the centre and to announce a date for the centre to re-open. I am also asking them to work closely with local GPs and their patients on finding the right solutions which will see my constituents in East Barnet continue to have access to GP services from good quality local accommodation.”
The East Barnet Health centre closed temporarily last year to enable asbestos to be removed. In September, NHS Property Services wrote to the patients of the GP practices which had been temporarily relocated to inform them that more asbestos had been found than expected and that this was delaying the re-opening of the centre. A working group with GPs and NHS representatives has been set up to decide on the way forward.