Health leaders ponder options on vacant GP surgery

Health leaders are exploring what they can do with a vacant surgery that closed last year.

Thousands of patients were left without a doctor when The Hollies in Hadleigh, Essex, shut on 31 October.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) had issued an "urgent suspension" against the registration of the resident GP at the site, Dr Olusegun Olatokunbo Omosini.

Local health leaders have been trying to get another operator inside the building, a meeting of Essex care boards was told on Thursday.

"The landlord [of the building] is working with us really well on that, so I think that's a really positive thing," said Beverley Flowers, from the NHS Mid and South Essex Integrated Care System (ICS).

Papers published ahead of the meeting revealed the landlord had been locked in a legal battle with the building tenant until December.

"This found in favour of the landlord and as a result, the tenant must vacate the Hollies Surgery by mid-March," they read.

"The ICB is working with stakeholders to expedite this."

Omosini was first warned by the CQC in July 2025 "for failing to manage medicines safely" and due to concerns about governance systems in place.

He was then formally suspended by the watchdog on 30 October.

The Hollies serves about 12,800 people and has been run by an interim leadership team since its closure.

They were praised by the Conservative MP for Castle Point, Rebecca Harris, for "doing the right thing" and stepping up.

Patients have been offered appointments at alternative sites, as well as over the phone and online.

An ICS spokesman said: "We understand how difficult this situation has been and remain fully committed to restoring services from the Hollies building as quickly and safely as possible."

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