A SCALE-BACK of GP services across Tynedale in recent years demonstrates the increasing pressure on rural health care.

At a time when some GP surgeries in the district are considering closing their practices, the Government has stepped in and offered an incentive to encourage doctors to work in remote areas.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt announced at the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) annual conference last Thursday that the Government was to pledge a £20,000 ‘golden hello’ for newly-qualified GPs if they chose to start their career in areas which are struggling to attract family doctors.

The one-off payment will be offered to 200 GPs from 2018.

It was also announced that a new international recruitment office would be set up by NHS England to help local areas recruit overseas GPs and fast-track doctors from countries such as Australia.

The future of some GP surgeries in Tynedale is hanging in the balance, with the struggle to recruit new GPs one of the reasons being cited.

A final decision is yet to be made on the future of the Wylam Riversdale Surgery, which announced to patients in June that it was considering closing the surgery and relocating services and patients to its Oaklands Health Centre on Front Street, Prudhoe.

Following a period of engagement with its 3,000 patients, the practice is continuing to progress its application to close the site.

In a letter to patients when the proposal was first announced, the partners outlined their reasons, including the ageing premises and a lack of new GPs to take the practice forward.

“Difficulties in future recruitment would significantly challenge the future viability of the whole practice,” read the letter sent by the partners, Doctors Knapton, Miller and Donaldson.

And the White Medical Group, which has practices in Stamfordham, Wylam and Ponteland, is proposing to close its Stamfordham surgery and relocate its services to Ponteland Primary Care Centre, on Meadowfield.

As well as financial pressures due to changes in the funding received by the NHS, the practice also cited staffing issues following the retirement of one of its long-established GPs in March and the likelihood that another GP will retire within the next few years, leaving difficulties in recruiting more GPs to take the practice forward.

The White Medical Group will take comments on its proposal until November 14 .

The Harbottle Medical Practice, which used to operate satellite surgeries in Otterburn three days a week, closed in 2015, affecting patients in upper Redesdale and Elsdon, with some of them relocating to the Bellingham Practice.

And the twice-weekly surgeries at Otterburn Memorial Hall operated by the Bellingham Practice stopped in March last year, leaving patients across the Upper North Tyne and Redesdale to travel to Bellingham to reach their nearest practice.

Speaking earlier this year about the loss of the surgeries and the closure of Rothbury Hospital, which was agreed last month, Coun. Peter Tully of Otterburn Parish Council said the area was being “robbed of healthcare.”

Rural Services Network chief executive Graham Biggs said the news of a £20,000 ‘golden hello’ for rural GPs was welcome.

“In some rural areas, surgeries are in crisis because it is difficult to recruit GPs – with some rural patients having to wait the best part of a month to see a doctor,” he said.

“The Rural Services Network and our members have long campaigned on this issue.

“It is vital that we encourage more GPs to work in rural areas and this Government initiative will go some way to doing that.”

But Dr Richard Vautrey, GP committee chair of the British Medical Association, the trade union and professional body for doctors, questioned whether the scheme would be successful.

He said: “These proposals do appear to acknowledge the specific problems facing rural areas in England. But “golden hellos” are not a new idea and are unlikely to solve the overall workforce crisis, given we are failing badly to train enough GPs to meet current demands.

“There is already an incentive programme for hard-to-recruit areas that has been operating since 2016, and it is not clear whether this new announcement, which comes without any real details, is any different from that scheme.”