Saving GP surgery is 'triumph' - councillor

A decision to keep a Sheffield GP surgery open has been hailed by a city councillor as a "triumph".

The future of Walkley's Harold Street Medical Centre came under scrutiny in 2024 when its sole GP asked for the contract to be ended due to their ill health. The doctor later died.

Sheffield City Council was told that South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board had agreed to seek a long-term provider for the contract following consultation with the practice's 2,646 patients.

Councillor Ruth Milsom, ex-chair of the health scrutiny sub-committee, praised the decision as "heart-warming".

"We've sat here, and many of us before we were elected as well, rocking our heads in despair at the closure of things and it seemed inevitable," Milsom said.

Primary Care Sheffield had run the practice on a short-term basis until patients could be consulted on its future, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Milsom, Labour councillor for Crookes and Crosspool, said people had been listened to during a thorough consultation process that had taken extra time to ensure that views were heard.

"I think that's a triumph. I think we should convey our strong feeling about that to [NHS assistant director of transformation and delivery] Abigail Tebbs and the team," she added.

The decision was taken that patient safety and their ability to access appointments would have been compromised by closure.

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