Paperwork delays mean a Yorkshire Dales health centre will not reopen tomorrow as planned.
Officials remain hopeful that Reeth Medical Centre will reopen within days following the departure of Dr Mike Brookes, who had been based at the centre for almost 20 years.
The premises are set to be taken over by the Wensleydale-based Central Dales Practice, which will operate the site as a branch surgery three days a week.
The centre had been due to reopen tomorrow after Dr Brookes and his wife Marie, the practice manager, closed their business on Friday.
However, Central Dales announced today that the reopening would be delayed.
They said in a statement: “Despite the best efforts of ourselves and South Tees (Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust), we won’t have access to the Reeth site tomorrow. This is entirely beyond our control. We are just as disappointed.
“The next best we can offer for the next couple of days is if you need urgent GP support, call us on 01969 667200, option 4.
“A GP will call you back and deal with as much as possible over the phone, however if you need to be seen urgently, you would be asked to attend Aysgarth surgery.”
They added: “We realise this is not ideal and is certainly not what we had been planning for or expected, but we are told we should have access to Reeth in the next few days.
“We are ready and as soon as we have keys, we will be in and setting up.”
Central Dales said earlier in the day that it was awaiting final paperwork from the Brookes, who still own the medical centre.
Upper Dales councillor Yvonne Peacock said: “It is very disappointing, but sometimes these things take a little time to make sure they’re right.
“We’re very hopeful that things will be ironed out over the next few days.”
A spokesperson for the Healthcare Alliance for Reeth Community (HARC) patient group said: “It’s deeply disappointing, especially given the announcement last week about the opening of the centre.
“We know a lot of people are concerned and confused, but we would ask them to keep the faith.”
HARC also expressed disappointment that letters due to be sent to Reeth Medical Centre patients had not been issued by NHS Humber and North Yorkshire ICB.
“We’re flummoxed as to how the communication has been so poor from the ICB,” they added.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service has contacted the ICB for comment.
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