St Peter's Surgery, Woolston rescued from closure with new lease

St Peters Surgery, in Portsmouth Road, has secured its future after fears it may have to close due to a long-standing row with its landlord. 

The surgery has 6,700 registered patients who all received letters in May saying that the practice would be forced to move by September 10 if a solution was not found. 

But after the eight-year struggle to secure a deal, the surgery has now signed a new 20-year lease with the help of NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight. 

READ MORE: St Peter's Surgery in Woolston could shut over landlord row

GP Dr Alison Robins said: “We are all so glad and relieved we’ve been able to agree on, and sign a new 20-year lease, to ensure our patients can continue to access services from our current site.

“At the heart of this we’ve always wanted to do the best for our patients, and I want to thank them for their support which means so much to us.”

Politicians previously hit out at the possible closure and vowed to fight for the surgery with Peartree councillor Simon Letts saying it would be a "great loss" if the surgery closed.

At the centre of the dispute was an accessible toilet which held up the deal on any new lease as the surgery could not agree with the landlord on a price.

GP practices get paid back rental costs from the NHS but this is based on a value for money check carried out by the District Valuer - and this was in dispute at St Peters.

The health service worked with practice partners, landlord representative ASA Group and the District Valuer to agree the rent. 

More than 200 people attended a public meeting on May 20 regarding the closure with patient of 50 years, Shirley Edmunds branding it "ridiculous". 

St Peter's Surgery, Woolston (Image: Newsquest)

James Roach, director of primary care at NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight, said: “We are pleased to say we were able to work with all partners involved and come to a positive resolution for patients at this practice.

“From the start we saw this issue as a priority and were committed to resolve it in a timely way to offer both patients and the practice peace of mind that services will continue from the current site.

“We hope this demonstrates to patients we are serious with our commitment to ensure local access to GP services, and we work hard to achieve this for residents across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.”

Simon Harwood, director at ASA Group, said: “We are pleased system partners could come together at a local level and without the need to escalate to national arbitration to agree a new lease that represents value for money to the NHS”.