Plans to close Hartfields Medical Centre withdrawn

A Hartlepool medical centre threatened with closure has been saved in what has been described as “a victory for patients”.

Transcript

00:00 I think this is a really positive development.

00:07 The proposal to make a part-time service here at Heartfields was wrong in my view.

00:12 I think that it's right that the NHS has said, "Look, we want a full-time, five days a week service for patients here."

00:18 They've recognized the importance of this service to the patients here,

00:22 and I'm delighted that the campaigners, the Government's Committee which I chair,

00:27 have been successful in making sure that this service stays open.

00:30 I pay tribute to the NHS for recognizing the need, and I hope that it will stay for many years to come.

00:35 I'm so pleased to hear that the surgery is staying open.

00:39 It will make such a lot of difference to many, many people in Heartfields,

00:44 myself included. I'm a husband and just have certain disabilities.

00:48 It's a positive outlook that we've been fighting for,

00:53 and I think people deserve a chance. There are a lot of disabled people in Heartfields,

00:59 and they rely heavily on our treatment and surgery.

01:03 It's not easily accessible to go to anywhere else for a lot of people.

01:08 It's a welcoming outlook, and I'm really, really pleased.

01:13 I'd just like to thank all those involved in helping to keep it open,

01:18 because it seems to me that it's fully deserved.

01:23 We've relied on it for such a long time. I've been here 14 and a half years,

01:27 and in all of that time I've been in the GP surgery,

01:31 albeit it wasn't McKenzie House initially.

01:34 When they took over I stayed with them and I've been loyal to McKenzie House,

01:38 and I was a patient there from being born, and I'm 75 now,

01:43 so I've relied heavily on their surgeries and I think we all do deserve it.

01:49 I'm so, so pleased, as will all the other residents be when they've formed.