HEALTH bosses are in the firing line from Bexley councillors over the closure of a GP surgery.

They were forced to make a second apology to Cray Meadows councillors who have been fighting for two years to get replacement services for patients left stranded when their surgery shut.

Bexley Care Trust had to apologise to the councillors in 2008 for not consulting over the closure of the Longmead Drive surgery in Albany Park, Sidcup, which had around 2,500 patients.

The GPs moved to another location when they were unable to buy the surgery building and left Cray Meadows as the only ward in Bexley without a GP surgery.

Councillors have been negotiating with the care trust since 2008 and had understood it was arranging a mobile unit to visit Albany Park regularly.

So they were furious when they received as email saying the plans had been shelved “due to the passage of time”.

At Bexley Council’s health scrutiny committee, Councillor Ross Downing told care trust staff the failure was caused by the trust’s inefficiency.

Fellow ward councillor Cheryl Bacon said more than 800 people had signed a petition about the surgery closure and had been led to believe proposals for other services would go ahead.

She said the “passage of time” was a useful excuse for doing nothing.

Anton Glinsky from the care trust said he had consulted doctors at the Woodlands Surgery in Halfway Street, Sidcup, who said there was now no need for extra services as they had expanded theirs.

The trust revealed the mobile unit it had suggested using, was not suitable and was now being leased to Bexley Accessible Transport Service.

Dr Jo Medhurst apologised, saying the time taken by the trust to sort things out had been poor.