A ‘DESPERATE situation’ is being faced by clinical staff and patients in Thirsk after the revelation that the former Lambert Hospital is to be sold off, a local GP says.

Long-serving GP Dr Richard Hiles says that the decision not to convert the hospital site into a health centre represents a significant lost opportunity for the future of healthcare in the town.

Patient numbers at Dr Hiles’s practice, the Lambert Medical Centre, have grown by almost 2,000 since it was first built in 1993 and staffing levels have more than tripled.

The practice is struggling to find the space to cope with the increasing numbers and Dr Hiles said converting the Lambert Hospital site into a health centre would have been the ideal solution.

He added that The Health Centre practice in Thirsk is similarly constrained.

“Both our premises were judged inadequate by the CCG on the basis of size and capacity and we wholeheartedly agree, so it is frustrating to see not only the Lambert Hospital closure but now also the opportunity to use that site for a combined health care facility disappearing,” he said.

“If we are to improve and future-proof primary medical care in Thirsk, the centrality of the hospital site both to the town centre and the two existing GP surgeries make the old hospital the only realistic site.”

Dr Hiles added that if the CCG deemed it too expensive to convert the Lambert site into a health hub, then the likelihood of money being found to build a whole new centre for Thirsk was distant.

Janet Probert, chief officer of the CCG, said that during the consultation process that led to the hospital’s permanent closure in 2016, the possibility of using the site for healthcare was looked into, with the conclusion being that it would “not offer value for money and therefore would not be affordable.”

She added: “The CCG is disappointed that this particular option cannot be pursued.”

Ms Probert said that the building was declared surplus to NHS requirements by the CCG and NHS England in August and that proceeds from the sale will be reinvested in NHS Estate.

However, there is a process in place for capital investment to be drawn down via a formal business case.