Patients face the possibility of having to find a new surgery if plans go ahead to convert their practice for use by asylum seekers.

Nearly 2,000 patients at the Sai Centre practice in Rose Hill, Derby could be affected by the changes and may have to find new practices.

GPs in the city complained their surgeries could not cope with an influx of new patients so health officials decided to designate a centre specifically for the use of the asylum seekers.

The city has about 800 asylum seekers living in the area, many of whom have come from the Balkans.

Costs may seem excessive but these are individuals who have high levels of needs

Graham English

Medical needs

GPs said they were unable to cope with the pressures of dealing with so many new patients, some of whom were unable to speak English or had little or no medical records. Many have special medical needs.

Often asylum seekers have had no immunisations, others need to be screened for tuberculosis and many have psychological problems because of the poor conditions in their homeland.

Half of the city's 37 GP surgeries have now closed their lists to new patients because they are full.

So, Central Derby Primary Care Trust designated the Sai Centre to cope with the health needs of the asylum seekers.

Those using the centre will have exclusive access to a doctor, three support staff and interpreters.

It will cost �322,000 to convert and �274,000 a year to run.

Angry

The centre was chosen because it had been run by a locum since the GP who worked there left to concentrate on his other practice and adverts for a permanent replacement have been unsuccessful.

But the moves to change the practice have brought angry responses from some of the 1,900 current patients who say they do not want to find a new GP practice.

Graham English, chief executive of Central Derby Primary Care Trust, admitted that it was likely many of the current patients would have to find new practices.

And that the costs of the new practice might be seen as initially high, but he said the asylum seekers had high levels of need.

"Costs may seem excessive but these are individuals who have high levels of needs.

"It is the top end of the scale but this is new money coming from the government and will not affect the health service elsewhere in Derby."

But local GPs leaders say a failure to recruit a permanent GP rather than the asylum seekers is putting the future of the Sai Centre at risk.

Dr John Grenville, Secretary of Derbyshire local medical centre and local spokesman for the British Medical Association denied that the asylum speakers would be forcing out current patients.

He said it the Sai Centre was having difficulty recruiting a permanent GP and that it was this that could force the patients to be allocated to new practices.

He said that if the Sai Centre site was chosen, from a number of options for the asylum seekers centre, that it should be possible to run both facilities from the same building.

"There is probably space for two centres."