Royton GP Services must improve says Council Leader

Over recent months, residents in Royton who can’t get an appointment to see their GP have been voicing growing levels of dissatisfaction, and coupled with the latest CQC report into Royton Medical Practice, Oldham Council Leader and Councillor for Royton South, Amanda Chadderton, has acted. She brought together key leaders from the Royton practices and Oldham’s NHS services to agree action to improve the service.

The meeting recognised that patient care is the key matter at hand and that they were all determined to work together to ensure that patients in Royton get the timely care they deserve and are entitled to.

Cllr Amanda Chadderton said, “I made a public commitment that this Council will work with the NHS to help Oldhamers live better lives. And what is clear from residents in Royton is that our GP services must improve.”

“This week we met with local GPs from both Royton practices and Oldham’s NHS leaders to discuss how we go forward.”

“I am pleased that we agreed to ensure our practices in Royton receive extra support from NHS colleagues in Oldham to bring about improvements and change. We also agreed that given the level of concern, progress reports will be brought to future meetings of Oldham Council’s Cabinet.”

“We will keep Roytoners in the loop throughout this process to ensure that services get better for them.”

Cllr Steven Bashforth, Deputy-Cabinet Member for Health and Social Care and Councillor for Royton South said, “Residents struggling to access GP services is one of the main issues that Roytoners get in touch with us about as local councillors.”

“So given the importance of this issue to all of us in Royton we’re committed to working with both surgeries to reassure the community that their GPs are here to support them when they need it most.”

“There is no easy fix to this problem, but we will continue working with them until we get it right.”

Reports on General Practice to Oldham Council’s Cabinet are unusual, but given the circumstances, leaders in Oldham have agreed that this level of attention is warranted.