‘Packed in there like sardines’: Patients in Greenwich with only three GP surgeries for 52K people

By Joe Coughlan, Local Democracy Reporter

An area in South London currently only has three GP surgeries “to serve approximately 52,000 people”.

Dr Sarbjit Chauhan, of Eltham Medical Practice, said at a planning meeting for Greenwich council on Tuesday evening: “Unfortunately, the number of GP services has been in decline.

“Going back as much as 10 or 12 years, we were privileged enough to have about 12 GP practices in Eltham. That now has fallen to three.”

Council documents for the meeting say that Eltham Medical Practice had a patient list size of 11,000 in 2011, which has since increased to 24,778 as of last March.

The large increase in patients came partially after the practice was encouraged by the NHS to take over two smaller practices in the area.

Dr Chauhan said: “We are desperate for space. And the simple fact of the matter is there comes a point when the patient list keeps on growing and patient safety becomes a concern.”

The doctor said that there are a further two GP practices on the outskirts of Eltham, but that they also serve patients from neighbouring boroughs.

He said: “That’s approximately 52,000 patients being covered by three surgeries. That’s an awful lot of patients for not many GP surgeries.”

The planning meeting on Tuesday evening concerned an application to build an extension to Eltham Medical Practice on Westmount Road. The plan includes additional clinical rooms and will connect the two existing buildings of the practice.

Councillor Sammy Backon said: “This is a GP surgery whose list size has over doubled since 2011, and is now 25,000 and growing. Any delay in this application would have a direct impact on patients.”

Dr Chauhan said that the consequences of the application not being approved would be “catastrophic” and that new families moving to Eltham may not be able to register as patients.

Phil Russell, a patient of Eltham Medical Practice, said: “My doctors have been in this surgery for 35 years. They desperately need to expand because all of the other doctors who have closed have come over to this surgery. There’s not enough space in the surgery. We used to be packed in there like sardines, that was before Covid.”

The planning application for Eltham Medical Practice was passed by Greenwich Council at the meeting on Tuesday, with committee members unanimously agreeing on the decision.

Pictured top: Eltham Medical Centre on Westmount Road, which currently serves over 25,000 patients in the area (Picture: Google Street View)