In order to tackle residents’ concerns about the way Dudley Park Medical Centre is run, I met (virtually) with some of the senior managers and clinicians who run Dudley Park Medical Centre this week.

We discussed both these concerns and also the ongoing issue of the Practice’s relocation.

In terms of the relocation, there is now some more breathing space as their new landlord has agreed to a one year extension to the lease. That said, these are some of the most difficult times possible to arrange such a move. I have offered to do what I can to help. They continue to prioritise a move to another location in Acocks Green.

Regarding the current levels of service offered by the Centre, we discussed two aspects. The first is the clinical care offered. They assured me that despite problems over the past couple of years they do now have the level of GP cover that they need.

The second was customer service levels, which I keep getting worrying complaints about, especially concerning the way patients are spoken to and the lack of information about changes to their services. They told me that they recognise this is an issue and would be tackling it. As part of this they will put more effort into communicating with their patients – for example to explain why they way they are tackling Covid 19 means only some of their surgeries are open for face to face appointments at the moment – with Dudley Park not being one of these.

Of course the next few weeks will be very difficult for all GP surgeries. Given this, it was encouraging that they were willing to spend time to discuss residents’ complaints and concerns with me. However only time will tell if things improve.

Please do contact me if you continue to face problems – I will be happy to pass on your comments to them.