PATIENTS affected by the sudden cut of Warfarin blood testing at Burnham and Berrow Medical Centre will fight to find a way to keep the service running following a public meeting.

The meeting, called by Unite the Union and chaired by Dave Chapple and held at the BAY Centre in Burnham last Thursday, saw more than 40 affected patients and their loved ones join representatives from the Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group (SCCG), the Burnham and Berrow Patient Participation Group and political representatives to voice their concerns.

Patients expressed concerns over the way the news had been broken, with a letter giving them just one month's notice, questions over whether the Highbridge Medical Centre would be able to accommodate all the patients who were being told to transfer from the Burnham Centre.

In his opening gambit, Dave Chapple said: "We at Bridgwater TUC have graves misgivings about the NHS Sustainability and Transformation Plan, which will see around £600m of cuts introduced in Somerset.

"It is couched in progressive language but we have concerns about the process. Ostensibly it sounds as though it will help but we are worried it will involve drastic cuts.

"The language seems to be deliberately impenetrable, and it is unclear where these cuts will fall."

He said being given a month's notice that a potentially life-saving service was being taken away was unacceptable.

Patient Mike Lang said: "I have been on Warfarin for nearly 20 years and when this letter came through it hit me like a bombshell – we should have known about this months ago."

However Wells GP Will Harris attended to try and answer questions on behalf of the Somerset CCG.

"Firstly, this has not been a decision that the CCG has made, it was made by Burnham Medical Centre who felt they would unable to carry on the service due to staff shortages," he said.

"It is desperately unfortunate and not a good outcome for anyone but it is not about money.

"We have been in talks with other providers but we have not be able to find a solution."

The meeting concluded voted in favour of continuing to lobby for the decision to be reversed and agreed to protest the Somerset CCG AGM at the Canalside in Bridgwater on Wednesday, June 28 at 6pm.

However NHS worker Suzanne Highfield questioned the choice saying: “It does not matter if you have 200 people with placards if there is not physically someone able to do the job. It is a shame the way it has been dealt with but there are not people available that have the required skills."

Liberal Democrat Tessa Munt was in attendance at the meeting, saying she was worried some patients would struggle to travel across once transferred.

"There are limited buses, it can be expensive to get a taxi and people may be forced into a position where they have to rely on other people," she said.

"The other question is what other services are at risk – it would be good to know now rather than be hit with another bombshell in six months time."

MP James Heappey said he did not receive an invite to the meeting but issued a statement on the matter.

"Over the last few days, I’ve spoken to both the Burnham and Highbridge Medical Centres, the chief executive of the CCG and the chairman of Burnham Medical Centre’s Patient Group.

"While I am reassured to know that this is not a resource issue – the Burnham Medical Centre is handing back the money for the INR testing contract – I am disappointed that clinician recruitment issues have again led to the loss of an important medical service within our community.

"The Highbridge Medical Centre assures me that they are able to take on patients wishing to transfer while the Burnham Medical Centre has explained that many of the 230 affected patients will be able to switch to a different anticoagulant which requires only an annual blood test.

"Somerset’s NHS Sustainability & Transformation Plan is not remotely “secretive.” I was briefed on it months ago, so were the Patient Participation Groups around the county and full copies have been available through the Somerset Partnership NHS Trust, the Somerset County Council and the Somerset CCG from the moment it was published.

"This vision for Somerset’s healthcare was written by clinicians – not politicians – and is well worth reading. "You can read the STP and contribute to the consultation by visiting somersetccg.nhs.uk/get-involved/consultations-and-engagement/stp-plan."