A Welsh village is to keep its GP surgery after the health board listened to patient complaints regarding plans to close it.
The Aneurin Bevan University Health Board in South Wales said it had sent letters out to patients of the Goytre branch of Churchwood Surgery in Monmouthshire, following a public engagement process and review by the branch closure panel.
The health board said it had accepted the panel’s conclusion that services should continue in the village of Goytre.
Residents set up a petition to protest the application for the practice’s closure four months ago, which has since gained over 600 signatures.
Protestors said the closure would ‘rob’ patients of an accessible healthcare facility, many of whom are children and the elderly. They said the services were needed for the 3,000 people in the village, a number that is growing due to the development of new housing in the area.
The closure would also have affected the villages Mamhilad and Little Mill, areas which ‘rely heavily’ on the Goytre Surgery branch, according to protestors.
A spokesperson for Aneurin Bevan University Health Board said: ‘A letter has been sent to patients to advise them that the branch closure panel’s recommendation was that primary care services should continue to be provided in Goytre and this has been accepted by the health board.’
‘Discussions are continuing with the practice as to how best to achieve this and we expect to reach a conclusion over the next few weeks.’
Goytre Surgery branch declined to comment as they are still in talks with the health board.
