Medical Centres who are “under extreme pressure” due to Government’s broken primary care funding system.

Claire Sully, the Liberal Democrat candidate for the new Bridgwater parliamentary constituency, believes more must be done to support NHS GP surgeries and primary care, with both local patients and NHS staff left reeling from the effects of 13 years of Tory NHS policy incompetence.

Claire, who is setting out her priorities in the new Bridgwater constituency in a challenge of ‘Running the new Constituency’, will highlight the impact of underfunded NHS services in the area, with her next run to begin at Somerset Bridge Medical Centre in Bridgwater and end at East Quay Medical Centre.

In England, almost 200 GP surgeries closed between 2018 and 2022, affecting 650,000 patients. The surgeries at greatest risk of closure are smaller medical practices with lower funding in the most deprived areas. After consulting with staff at local medical centres she believes some could be at risk of closure.

Several GP medical practices in the constituency are facing unprecedented pressures. These include East Quay Medical Centre in Bridgwater, as well as medical practices in North Petherton, Burnham, and East Brent, while the Victoria Park GP surgery in Bridgwater closed permanently in August 2021 due to ‘clinical staff shortages’. Local medical services are under extreme pressure due to the Conservative government’s failure to adequately resource these vital facilities, with residents in the Bridgwater constituency at risk of losing their GP surgery.

At the core of our broken NHS system is its undervalued workforce, which continues to be further stretched due to Conservative government cuts, resulting in the number of fully trained, full-time equivalent GPs in England having reduced by more than 2,000 since 2015.

Claire will embark on 2.5km run (or optional 5K return loop) departing from Somerset Bridge Medical Centre, at 10.30 am on Saturday, December 9th, in support and recognition of the vital services that GP surgeries provide right across the new Bridgwater constituency.

“The Conservatives have pushed primary care services and GP surgeries to the brink,” said Claire.

“These services are of vital importance not only to those who rely on accessing them but also to those hardworking people who work there, who have been grossly neglected resulting in a severe worsening of pay and conditions.

“We need to value our NHS staff, improve working conditions and, in turn, make for the very best possible services we can provide to local residents.

“I hope many will join me on the run and show their support for our brilliant NHS workers.”