61-year-old says closure of Hextable doctor's clinic is 'kick in the teeth'

Jim Halford, of London Road, Swanley is upset NHS West Kent’s Primary Care Trust (PCT) is considering closing the Manzoori clinic in Claremont Road, Hextable from April 1.

According to the Trust, the premises do not meet the required standards and are no longer suitable to deliver high quality GP services.

Mr Halford, who has been a patient at the clinic for 31 years said: “Are they doing it just to save money or to give us better service?

“And what annoys me is that it’s due to be closed on April Fools Day- it’s a real kick in the teeth.”

The Trust has written to patients informing them of the proposal, but will continue registering people at the clinic until a decision is made on January 25.

It has also invited patients to indicate where they would like to be registered if the clinic does close.

But Mr Halford says he does not want to leave the practice.

He said: “I’m being dictated to over which surgeries to go to where I don’t know the doctors.

“After so many years at the same surgery, it’ll be a culture shock to change practices.

“I’m used to the doctors and receptionists here- they’re very good.

”I’d be gutted if they were made redundant.”

There are five member of staff working at the Manzoori clinic and a spokeswoman for the Trust told News Shopper if the clinic does close, redundancy will be a last resort.

She said: “NHS West Kent implements its policy of redeployment as the first option for all staff affected by service changes. “Every effort is always made to retain staff within the organisation, looking at all possible suitable alternative positions available for staff to be redeployed to.

“Redundancy is avoided wherever possible and only ever considered as a last resort.”

The Trust will be writing to each individual patient again in February with further information and a drop-in meeting will be held where patients can discuss any concerns with representatives from the NHS.