THE troubled handover of a medical practice which has left two communities without a doctor’s surgery has been described as ‘a farce’ by disaffected patients.

Anger is mounting in the village of Shebbear, where patients are having to travel ten miles to Holsworthy Surgery to see a doctor or nurse.

The doors to Beech House Surgery have been locked after negotiations between retiring GP Dr Francis Fernandez and Ruby Country Medical Group broke down at the start of July.

Shebbear resident Barry Hunt has written to NHS England, in charge of awarding GPs’ contracts, demanding action to resolve the situation.

‘For the first time in 130 years, Shebbear has been left without a resident GP,’ he said.’It is an absolute farce. Just ridiculous.

‘At the moment we are having to travel ten miles to Holsworthy, which is fine if you have the transport but not otherwise. They have organised a bus which leaves at 10.30am which they are saying takes quarter of an hour to get to Holsworthy but that’s a laugh.

’Then it doesn’t leave to come back until 1.30pm, so you’re stuck there.

‘I know a person who has to have their dressings changed three times a week, and she has no transport. It has been extremely difficult for her.’

Ruby Country Medical Group was to have taken over the surgeries in Hatherleigh and Shebbear after being awarded the practice contract by NHS England in June. However they were denied the keys to the surgery buildings after negotiations apparently foundered with Dr Fernandez.

On Friday, RCMG revealed that it had applied for planning permission and change of use to convert the old NatWest building into a surgery in Hatherleigh with the hope of opening the surgery ‘as soon as possible’. They also said they had identified premises in Shebbear and were entering negotiations with the landlord.

However this has further inflamed things in Shebbear, where calls are being made for the practice to reopen negotiations with Dr Fernandez to release Beech House Surgery.

‘They are saying in their briefing that they have identified premises in Shebbear for a doctor’s practice, however, as somebody who lives in Shebbear I find it extremely difficult to think of anywhere they could open up the doctor’s surgery other than the existing surgery,’ said Mr Hunt.

Jane Wells, managing partner at Ruby Country Medical Group, said: ‘We are trying our hardest to get something back as quickly (in Shebbear) as possible. In Hatherleigh we were lucky, the NatWest building was an obvious choice.

‘Shebbear is a small village, rather than a town, so it is more difficult, but we have identified some premises and we are talking to the landlords.’

Asked about the circumstances which led to the practice not taking on the Hatherleigh and Shebbear surgeries, she said ‘Dr Fernandez changed his mind’.