A DOCTOR from Winsford has warned members of the public that community care and services are going to ‘fail and collapse’ and says there are no solutions.

Dr Jonathan Griffiths, who is a GP at Swanlow Practice in Winsford and also the chair of the Vale Royal Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), took to his blog to warn the public of the ‘doom and gloom’ surrounding the future of health services in the area.

Dr Griffiths, who has worked at the Winsford practice for 11 years, opens his recent blog post by stating ‘things are going wrong with my part of the NHS left, right and centre.’ He goes on to say that the Vale Royal CCG, which manages health care in Winsford, is not getting a ‘fair share’ of funding allocation and that NHS England is prioritising Leighton Hospital over GP practices and other community services.

Dr Griffiths said: “Right here and right now the message seems clearly to be that we should protect our local hospital. No one appears to be looking to protect GPs, community staff or Mental Health workers.

“We are being asked by NHS England to ‘think the unthinkable’ and make ‘unpalatable decisions’ in order to make our books balance.

“This means cuts. Cuts means going after the areas you think you can easily cut, which is not the same as going after the areas you would prefer to cut. In reality this means potentially reducing spend in Primary Care, Community Care and Mental Health.”

The experienced GP also attacked the government and NHS England for not being ‘open with the public.’ He added: “If the government and NHS England are responsible for anything here, they are at least responsible for not being open and honest with the public.

“Where is it being said that the task of a number of CCGs this year is unachievable? Where is it being said that financial constraints will mean cuts in service?

“Locally if things carry on as they are then our local hospital will continue to grow while the rest of the local health service shrinks and the CCG runs out of money.

“General Practice will collapse, community care will fail, mental health services will disintegrate and more patients will find themselves at the door of the hospital. A viscous cycle will ensue.

“I am struggling to see the solutions that will make a difference. But I wanted you to know. I want you to begin to understand what’s going on here.”

If you have any views on your local NHS services, email yourviews@guardiangrp.co.uk.