BT delay puts GPs on hold

ON the waiting list: the new surgery in Gartside Street, Delph

WORRIED residents have been told their new medical centre could remain closed until the new year - because British Telecom hasn’t connected vital telephone cables.

The multi-million pound, two-storey centre in Delph will serve more than 5,000 villagers across Delph, Denshaw and Castleshaw Valley. The nearest existing surgery is in Uppermill.

Councillor Val Sedgwick, the District Partnership’s chair, said: “This is unbelievable. A multi-million pound health centre cannot open because BT can’t put the necessary connections in before January. It has to be done as soon as possible.

“It urgently needs to open as the temporary centre has been removed and patients are having to trek to Uppermill for medical care, putting a greater strain on Smithy Lane Surgery.”

Saddleworth parish councillor Alan Roughley said: “It is scandalous. It brings the health service into disrepute.”

Oldham East and Saddleworth MP Debbie Abrahams said: “This is obviously going to come as a shock and have a real impact on residents in Delph, who have been very patient.

Royce Franklin, chairman of Saddleworth Medical Practice Patient Participation Group, said: “It’s a great pity BT can’t prioritise work.”

A spokesman for Saddleworth Medical Practice said: “We share our patients’ frustration about delays. We are doing everything we can to ensure the surgery opens as quickly as possible.”

But the dismay could be short-lived: following a call from the Chronicle a BT spokesman said workmen would be sent today to set up a temporary service to allow the surgery to open until the main cable is installed.

The delay isn’t BT’s fault, said the spokesman: “The NHS secure broadband line into the surgery requires us to ask for permission to close the road. The local authority requires 12 weeks’ notice and insists we work only on Sundays. The local council is being approached again to see if they can allow this road closure and works to go ahead before the January date we have been given.

“This delay is regrettable and we are keenly aware of the difficulties.”