THE future of a GP surgery has been thrown into doubt after five doctors announced their retirement simultaneously.

Circuit Lane Surgery, in Southcote, put a notice up on its website telling its 10,400 patients the five partners have tendered their resignation and are set to leave at the end of January.

Despite NHS England’s reassurances that the surgery will not be closed and a new healthcare provider found, the bolt-from-the-blue announcement has sparked fears the service could be compromised or privatised.

Andrea Urquhart, who has been taking her six children to the surgery since 2008, is worried that if anything happens to the Circuit Lane Surgery it will be harder to get to another doctor.

She demanded to know why patients had not been informed of the announcement.

She said: “It does worry me a little bit because where is the next surgery?

“We definitely should have been told — they are quick enough to send you a letter or text to remind you when you have an appointment or if you’ve missed one.”

NHS England Thames Valley spokesman Natalie Hagan stressed that all the options for providing a GP service are being explored.

She said: “We would like to reassure patients that we are committed to ensuring the continuation of high quality, local GP services and we will keep patients and the wider local community informed as these options are developed.”

However, Healthwatch Reading’s chief executive Mandeep Kaur Sira blasted NHS England for not informing patients about the changes and is demanding safeguards are put in place to protect continuity of care for people with long-term conditions.

She said: “Healthwatch Reading’s prime concern is that patient care is not compromised during the tendering service to replace the five GPs at the surgery.”

Healthwatch Reading will be debating GP capacity in the borough at its first open board meeting next month because Ms Sira is worried that there are not enough newly-qualified doctors becoming GPs to meet patients’ demands.

She said: “We are concerned about how that gap will be plugged in Reading. We will be closely monitoring whether patient care is affected at Circuit Lane Surgery.”

Reading West MP Alok Sharma has promised to host a public meeting once concrete proposals for the site are put forward and is urging patients to give NHS England a few weeks to make progress.

He said: “I will be keeping in close contact with NHS England to check on their progress and if any of my constituents have specific concerns they want to raise I would ask them to contact me.”

Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Reading West Victoria Groulef is hosting a meeting at The Grange United Reformed Church in Circuit Lane at 7.30pm on Thursday, September 25.

Patients can contact Healthwatch Reading by calling 0118 902 3912 or visiting www.healthwatchreading.co.uk