THERE COULD be good news for anxious residents as a possible three-month delay to the opening of a brand new doctors surgery in Delph may be avoided.
The launch of the multi-million pound clinic on Garside Street had been postponed from September to January as vital cables for broadband internet have not be installed.
But now BT has announced it is setting up a temporary service for the surgery so it can open and they will also try to bring forward the scheduled works.
A BT spokesman said: “We will be setting up a temporary service for the Delph Surgery on Thursday, (October 16), which will enable them to open and operate their broadband service until the main cable is put in.
“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.”
He added: “The repeated silting up of our ducting that carries cables means the final 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.
“We have put in phone lines and an ISDN line into the surgery as well as lift safety lines and a red core line.
“This delay is regrettable and we are keenly aware of the difficulties this has caused.”
Royce Franklin, chair of Saddleworth Medical Practice Patient Participation Group, had called the potential three-month delay unacceptable.
He said: “This should have been planned and done months ago during the building process.
“I think this is an intolerable length of time to wait for the work to be done.”
He added: “I have been inside and it is a wonderful new facility. But as it’s not open there’s incredible pressure on the Uppermill surgery, which is serving 14,500 patients across Saddleworth.”
A temporary clinic, operating in portacabins in Delph car park over the past year while the new surgery was built, is no longer available.
Cllr Alan Roughley added: “There was a three-month delay to get the portacabins in place for the temporary surgery and now we have another delay.
“When you have multi-million pound facilities left empty it really is unacceptable. It brings the health service into disrepute.”
Debbie Abrahams, MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth, has already written to the Clinical Commissioning Group and the NHS local area team for an explanation for the delay.
She said: “I went to Delph to talk to residents and there were concerns about the delays, especially going into the winter when doctors’ surgeries are at their busiest and not the time you want to be struggling to see your GP.”
A spokesperson for Saddleworth Medical Practice said: “We totally share our patients’ frustration about delays to opening the new Delph Surgery.
“There have been issues around IT infrastructure and we are working to resolve these with the support of BT and Oldham CCG.
“Until the Delph Surgery opens, we will continue with home visits and make proper provision for patients at our Uppermill site.”
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