Thousands of patients are set to lose out on a second, much-needed GP surgery after the NHS failed to approve funding for it.

The Epsom Guardian revealed last week that the Ashley Centre Surgery, in Ashley Square, Epsom, is facing a bleak future because its move to bigger, state-of-the-art premises in the Old Magistrates’ Court development, in The Parade, Epsom, has not been approved by NHS bureaucrats.

Surrey and Sussex Area Team, formed after the abolition of Primary Care Trusts last April, has not considered the application for a year, after it was formed to do so, because it said it is still awaiting policy guidance on the issue of GPs premises from NHS England.

Now the premises earmarked for the new surgery are up for sale after the owner ran out of patience.

But the Ashley Centre Surgery is not the only casualty of a lack of prioritisation of the issue nationally by the NHS.

Your Local Guardian:

GPs at the Ashley Centre Surgery have been unable to move into new premises for a year

A new GP surgery has been earmarked for a number of years as part of plans to redevelop Hollymoor Lane, on the Longmead Estate, in Epsom.

But Epsom town councillor Neil Dallen, chairman of the strategy and resources committee, said the project’s working group has given up waiting for the NHS to approve the GPs' premises and is now drawing up new plans without it.

He said: "Epsom has a need for doctors’ surgeries.

"We have got a doctors’ surgery that was going to move into the Hollymoor Lane redevelopment and after years of not getting the money released, because the NHS has failed to do it, we are going to lose a second proposed GP surgery in Epsom.

"We have no idea when the NHS will sort themselves out. 

"It’s crucifying the project and it will crucify Epsom if we continue to wait and don’t start on the development.

"It’s the choice between waiting for an unspecified time for a doctors’ surgery or having housing there, and we have to go for housing. 

"We are unlikely to have a GPs’ surgery in that location now."

The Longmead Surgery, near the Longmead Centre, closed down in 2010 and patients from the area were transferred to Fitznells Manor surgery, in Chessington Road, Ewell - a practice which is at least half a mile away and is no longer regarded as being big enough for the local population. 

Epsom councillor Dan Stevens, who represents Court ward and is involved in the Hollymoor Lane redevelopment project, said that the Fitznells Manor surgery, a 16th Century, Grade-II listed building, is not fit for purpose and that the rationale behind having a GPs' surgery in Hollymoor Lane was to have an accessible practice, offering a dozen consultation rooms, in the heart of Longmead.

He said: "Thousands of patients could potentially be without a surgery and then they will go to A&E which is under strain as it is.  

"It's a complete and utter shambles.

"But regardless of what the people need, if there's no authorisation of it, we can't really do anything."

Coun Dallen said an indicative plan, setting out what Epsom Council wants the Hollymoor Lane redevelopment to include, will be reworked and the new plan put out to tender.

The delay will add to the frustration caused by a long series of postponements over this planned redevelopment. 

In a bid to speed up the process, Epsom Council appointed a project manager in May.

Coun Dallen said it may be possible to put an option into the plan to allow for a GP surgery to be included in the development at a later date, but that this will need to be discussed. 

He added: "The doctors have been trying to get the money firmed up for a long time.

"We can either continue waiting, doing nothing, or roll the development out and say we will put a tender out to build housing units there."

Asked when it would be releasing guidance on the issue allowing surgeries to move or open, an NHS England spokeswoman said: "Two-thirds of the NHS budget is now controlled by local GPs and like them we want to see more investment in primary care, including modern buildings.

"While the NHS budget has been protected, which is welcome, finding more money in one area will inevitably mean reductions elsewhere."

Jane Shipp, of Healthwatch Surrey, said that it knows that GP access is a problem in the county and that it has conducted research into this which will be publshed at the end of the month. 

She said: "We have contacted NHS England's local area team about the lack of guidance around GP premises and how soon it might become available, and we are considering escalating the matter to Healthwatch England.

"It is unacceptable that, more than a year since the changes to the NHS system, a lack of national guidance is holding up progress in an area as essential as GP services.

"We would like to encourage people to share their experiences with us, good and bad, which we can use to influence the way health and social care services in Surrey are planned and provided."

Katherine Murphy, chief executive of the Patients Association, added: "Patients have the right to access medical services promptly when they are ill, so it is vital the NHS invests properly in its buildings in order to provide high-quality services.

"Many GP surgeries are now in urgent need of modernisation to bring them to the standards that patients expect and deserve.  It may also be necessary to invest in new buildings and premises.

"We would therefore urge the NHS to take the necessary steps to ensure approval is given promptly to potential new buildings and so give patients the best possible healthcare experience."

Dr John Flower, a locum GP of 35 years, from Epsom, who works in surgeries in Epsom, Richmond and Kingston, said: "It's disappointing the Government is not investing in premises where it's desperately needed because GPs look after 90 per cent of all the healthcare in the UK and they are only getting 10 per cent of the amount of money available. 

"There is a big mismatch there.

"They are quoting that we are short of 10,000 GPs in this country. 

"The trouble is that general practice is becoming quite unpopular with the younger doctors so there is a lack of recruitment and at the other end of the scale GPs in their 50s are looking to retire early."

Epsom councillor Liz Frost, chairman of the health liaison panel, said she has contacted NHS England to raise the issue and ask when the problem will be addressed.

Health campaigner Jane Race, from Epsom, said: "It is increasingly difficult to get appointments with GPs and they often only have a short amount of time with patients.  Investment in primary care is very important.

"If you're building new homes you need to have the GPs services available for them."

Contact Healthwatch Surrey by calling 03033030023, emailing enquiries@healthwatchsurrey.co.uk or visiting a local Citizens' Advice Bureau.

What do you think? Leave a comment below or contact Hardeep Matharu on the newsdesk by calling 020 8722 6346 or by emailing hmatharu@london.newsquest.co.uk.