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Firework incident causes GP surgery to shut

Thousands of patients have seen GP services disrupted by a fire caused by a firework at a practice in Staffordshire.

Dosthill Medical Centre in Tamworth, which is part of Parkview Medical Group, closed after being ‘severely damaged’ by the fire on Saturday.

GP partner Dr Gulrez Shaikh said the practice had been working with the CCG and NHS England to make a short-term plan to ensure patients can access services. A longer term plan will be made once the damage is fully assessed.

The GP services have now been moved to the group’s other surgeries: Glascote Health Centre in Caledonian, Glascote Health and the Wilnecote surgeries in Tamworth. However, its 4,000 patients can continue to contact Dosthill Medical Centre via its existing number.

Dr Shaikh said: ‘We would like to reassure everyone that we will be able to provide a full service and patient records are fully accessible to the staff who need them. The main fire damage was caused to the dental surgery on site.

‘The damage to the GP surgery was less severe, although the full extent will not be known until the site has been inspected by insurance assessors.’

The fire was reported at around 9.30pm on Saturday evening and firefighters remained on the scene until 6.13pm on Sunday.

No one was hurt in the blaze, however there was considerable damage to the building and the fire service said they were unsure how long the building will be closed for.

Initial reports on Twitter from the Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service said the fire was caused by a firework. 

In a statement, Staffordshire Fire and Rescue group manager added: ‘The fire caused considerable damage to the building and to neighbouring business premises. The cause has not yet been established and an investigation is underway.’

Dr Shammy Noor, chair of South East Staffordshire and Seisdon Peninsula CCG, said: ‘I would like to thank all staff who are working to ensure there is continuity of care for patients.

‘The CCG will continue to work with the practice to provide the necessary support in the short and medium term to get services back to normal as soon as possible.’