Have your say on future of general practice services in Coniston

People registered at a South Lakes GP practice have been asked to give their views on how changes to services in the area would affect them.

Dr Katharina Frey and Dr Ahmed Abbas, who run Coniston Village Surgery at Wraysdale House in the village, have announced that, from 1 August 2025, they will hand back to the NHS their contract to provide general medical services at the practice. This is due to the retirement of Dr Frey and the practice being unable to recruit a new partner.

NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB), which organises healthcare services for the region, must now consider the future delivery of primary medical services for those registered with the practice. It is committed to involving local patients in that decision.

Peter Tinson, director of primary and community commissioning at the ICB, said: “There are several options for us to consider and these include attempting to find a new provider to run the current practice or asking patients to register with another local practice.

“The current Coniston Village Surgery building is not owned by the NHS and while it has housed GP services in the area for a number of years, it does not meet the requirements we would prefer to use for modern healthcare settings.

“The views of the patients are paramount in helping us make this decision. I would therefore like to invite you to provide comments to our survey by Friday 14 March.”

A survey is available to complete at www.lancashireandsouthcumbria.icb.nhs.uk/coniston

Drop-in sessions where people can speak to members of the local NHS team will take place at The Coniston Institute from 10am to noon on Tuesday 4 March and from 2pm to 4pm on Thursday 6 March.