Pharmacist makes offer on surgery

A pharmacist wants to buy an at-risk Bloxwich doctors' surgery so thousands of patients can remain there.

Abbey Square surgery, on the Mossley Estate, could close when the doctors who own it retire next month.

Patients have been fighting to keep it open, but pharmacist Davinder Bhamra, who runs the Mossley Chemist in Cresswell Crescent, says he has approached NHS Walsall about buying the surgery. But, his offer, which he says was made in June, is not in a list of options to patients.

Mr Bhamra, aged 42, of Wolverhampton, says he would lease it back to PCT if he was allowed to buy it.

The surgery is currently owned by the doctors who are soon to retire.

He said: "I am not asking for funds. They can afford to lease it at the moment so they can afford to lease it from me.

"I think everybody thinks it's a foregone conclusion that it's going to close."

Among the options for the future are moving the 3,100 patients to Pinfold Street surgery, an unpopular move due to parking problems at Pinfold Street.

Mr Bhamra said: "I want to continue the services at Abbey Square, there are a lot of patients on this estate who will have a problem getting to the Pinfold Street surgery, there is no direct bus there.

"There is no reason why Abbey Square surgery cannot be developed." He added: "Planning permission has been granted on Broad Lane for 200 houses."

Drs Adbul and Rifat Ghaffar have announced their retirement date of March 31. The remaining GP, Dr Saema Saleen, is due to step down on March 23.

NHS Walsall spokesman Peter Mitchell said: "A consultation is still taking place and that needs to be carried out first to see what is going to happen before any decision is made over who owns it.

"Any transaction between the present owner and another party will be a private transaction between them anyway."