Rishi has been in touch with two potential operators of the closure-threatened Reeth Medical Centre.
He has called on regional health chiefs to explore these opportunities with a commitment to save GP services in Swaledale.
Last week, the current partners who run the centre, Dr Mike Brookes and his wife Marie, the practice manager, announced they would retire at the end of May.
The NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB), which commissions GP services, said it could not find anyone to take the practice on and it would close, with patients being allocated to other practices at Hawes/Aysgarth, Leyburn and Richmond.
Rishi has called on the ICB to redouble its efforts to protect the practice and its 1,600 patients. He has sought a meeting, alongside local Cllr Yvonne Peacock, with the chair and chief executive of the ICB to impress upon them the force of the community’s concerns and to seek a solution.
He described one potential bidder as ‘highly credible’. An experienced practice manager has a team of staff identified, including a GP partner and a salaried GP, who says they are ready to move to Reeth at the beginning of June.
Rishi said he believes obstacles to bidders taking on the contract – said to be transitional partnership arrangements and the rental/lease value for the existing medical centre premises – can be overcome.
“I call on the ICB to pursue all opportunities, including this one, with a commitment to finding a solution which keeps this vital practice open and serving patients who will struggle to reach the suggested alternatives, especially in winter.
He added: “It would be quite wrong if the ICB were to let a desire to save a relatively small amount of money on the overheads of running the Reeth practice get in the way of a solution that is in the best interests of patients.”
“It is clear to me that there are parties interested in the practice. I urge the ICB to think again and to talk to people with a real desire to operate in Reeth and who have the relevant experience to make a success of it.”
