MP Andrea Jenkyns joins fight to save Wrenthorpe surgery

Conservative Andrea Jenkyns has launched a petition against the possible shut-down of Wrenthorpe Branch Surgery and urged NHS bosses to keep it open.

Ms Jenkyns, the Morley and Outwood MP, said she teamed up with surgery campaigners after members of her team attended a public meeting last Wednesday.

The surgery’s future is under review by its parent GP practice, Outwood Park Medical Centre. Patients who currently go to the branch surgery, on Wrenthorpe Road, could be asked to attend appointments at the Outwood centre, just over a mile away.

A 12-week consultation on the surgery’s future was launched by Wakefield Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), which controls the local health budget.

NHS bosses said there were concerns about whether the branch surgery was still suitable, and that Outwood Park Medical Centre was planning to expand its services for patients.

But Ms Jenkyns said she feared the impact on elderly patients who would have to travel further for appointments.

She said: “Should the proposed closure of Wrenthorpe Branch Surgery go ahead, the whole community of Wrenthorpe would be affected.

“The decision also has the potential to affect the local pharmacy and dentist and it will make life harder for residents who would have to travel to Outwood for appointments.

“It could also affect residents in Outwood as Outwood Park Medical Centre would have to serve 13,000 people, both villages combined.”

It is the second petition launched against the closure after a separate one by Stop Closure of Wrenthorpe Local Surgery (SCOWLS) was signed by more than 440 people.