THE sudden closure of a GP surgery has raised “grave concerns” for the thousands of patients who use it.

Brighton and Hove Healthwatch said it is monitoring developments after Goodwood Court Surgery in Hove was shut this week.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) applied to Brighton Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday to close the surgery following an inspection of services.

This was said to be necessary to protect the safety and welfare of residents.

Healthwatch said concerns about the surgery were already on its radar as it had been receiving complaints from patients.

Chief executive Nicky Cambridge said: “We are actively monitoring the situation which is changing rapidly.

"We are already hearing that there is some confusion on the ground about which surgery to attend today, which we will feed back to NHS England to ensure immediate response.

“We understand there are larger numbers of older people with complex health needs who use the surgery, and we do not wish to see them have to use already stretched accident and emergency services at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.

“We encourage patients to let us know about their experiences to help us monitor the situation.”

NHS England, which employs doctors, and Brighton and Hove Clinical Commissioning Group, which is responsible for ensuring there is a service, are putting in place immediate and urgent plans including a bespoke service for those most vulnerable.

They urge patients to use the Brighton Station Health Centre or call NHS 111.

The closure follows the loss of Eaton Place Surgery in Brighton earlier this year, which shut after the GP retired.

Healthwatch said there had been problems for patients in finding alternative GP practices on that occasion and it is concerned the same thing may happen this time if Goodwood Court stays permanently closed.

Goodwood Court has 28 days to appeal the court’s decision.

A Healthwatch statement said: “We have been assured that lessons have been learnt from Eaton Place.

“We hope this means that a new service will be in place very shortly. However, given the complexity, we will remain vigilant about how this process works and will be directly involved on behalf of patients.

“In the longer term, a sustainable surgery with regular staff is needed.

“There is a more general problem about closure of GP practices. Expectations are that more services will be provided in primary care in the future, with ever more vulnerable people with long term conditions remaining at home.

“There needs to be a systematic plan so citizens of Brighton and Hove can be assured surgeries do not get closed overnight in the future so this strategy is achievable.”

Brighton and Hove City Council health and wellbeing board chairman, Daniel Yates, said: “We are reassured by the measures our health colleagues have put in place to ensure residents affected by the closure continue to get access to health services.

“We are working with them to identify their more vulnerable patients and ensure their needs are met.

“Our health colleagues have emphasised they are treating the establishment of alternative services as an urgent priority and have undertaken to keep us informed of all further developments.”