The relocation of a medical practice from the Caledonian Road area has meant more strain on already busy health centres elsewhere, with more than 430 patients leaving the practice to find new doctors. The Roman Way Medical Centre moved in September to Laycock Road, near Highbury and Islington station, more than half a mile from its old location, and it has lost ten percent of its registered patients since news of the relocation went public in May.
Sandra Lewis, one of the practice’s patients, visited the new location with her two toddlers recently. Despite some improvements, she’s contemplating leaving: “The facilities are better here, but the walk is too far away for us.” Mrs. Lewis says she’ll talk to her husband about registering at the nearby Bingfield Primary Care Centre instead.
At the Bingfield Centre itself, there are signs the relocation is already having an effect. One receptionist we spoke to there said: “Every day there are so many people registering, (and) we only have one doctor for about 3,000 patients.” The average GP has less than 2000 patients, according to the NHS.
At another practice, the Killick Street Health Centre, receptionist Alberto Abreu says GPs in the area have a quota of patients they can take from Roman Way, as determined by the Islington Clinical Commissioning Group. At Killick, they’ll be able to accomodate a few hundred.
The relocation from Roman Way was prompted by the retirement plans of the practice’s two doctors, Dr Bina Shah and Dr Stanley Ho. Dr Ho has now decided to postpone his retirement, and has been joined by two doctors from the Islington Medical Centre to provide care.
Map of GPs in Islington below shows a large gap in access to care for Northern Caledonian ward and Southern Holloway following Roman Way’s relocation:
