Six under-threat GP practices serving more than 15,000 Teessiders are handed a reprieve

Under threat GP practices serving more than 15,000 Teessiders have been handed a reprieve.

Six surgeries across Teesside could have closed when their contracts with NHS England ended in the next six months, because of low patient numbers.

This week the Gazette reported that two surgeries in Middlesbrough - the Hemlington Medical Centre and the Resolution Health Centre in North Ormesby - had been handed a one year reprieve.

Now NHS England have confirmed that the contracts of Stockton Health Centre in Hardwick, Eston Grange Health Centre in South Bank and the Langbaurgh Medical Centre in Redcar have also been extended by a year.

And NHS bosses are looking at renewing their contract full-time at Marske Medical Centre.

A spokesman for NHS England in Durham, Darlington and Tees said: “We will be working with Hartlepool and Stockton CCG (Clinical Commissioning Group) and the local council to undertake further work and develop a set of proposals for a sustainable solution for a service for patients in Stockton.”

The one year extension given to surgeries in South Bank and Redcar will also lead to a review of services across the borough.

The spokesman continued: “This (extension) will enable a wider review to fully assess the levels of access and quality of all general practices across Redcar and Cleveland.

“This review will be in partnership with South Tees CCG and the local council.

“With the Marske practice, the review has shown there is a clear need for the service, particularly with the high number of patients currently registered at the practice.

“We will now be looking to re-procure the service.

“As always, we will put patient care at the centre of all work we do and continue to ensure patients have access to GP services.”

Drop-in services at Eston Grange Health Centre and at the Resolution practice in North Ormesby - which allow patients to see a doctor without an appointment - are the responsibility of the South Tees Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), and are currently under review separately.