We have one day left working as GPs and the outpouring of emotion from patients has had me in tears nearly all morning.

I like to think I’m a pretty resilient chap, ridden motorcycles all over the world, kept pretty fit, but nothing could have prepared me for the bereavement that we are going through with our patients.

I had really hoped it would continue as a practice but it was not to be.

A mixture of increasing workload and dropping income meant there was no way to safely carry on.

My partner and I are spent. I have been in this practice for 26 years. I feel like a rat leaving a sinking ship.

I thought I’d stay until 65. But I would not survive. I feel for my lovely patients.

We have to sell the practice as we have a huge mortgage, redundancy packages for staff, not to mention the other accountancy costs to wind down a business.

NHS England is offering neighbouring practices £25 a head to take our patients.

When you also consider £500 million is being spent on our local hospital, you would have thought the NHS buying our practice would have been a better use of money than spending £100,000 on incentives.

We were silent before but NHS England has not been much help.

How will the other local practices cope?

It’s a sad day for a practice that has been there for nigh on 100 years.

No one except the patients seem to care that our old fashioned cradle to grave partnership is done.

I am lucky and can go as I am 55 soon.

A new chapter will open to me. RIP the NHS family doctor.

 

DR Stalker and Dr Mockett announced their intention to retire last year – leaving around 5,600 people in need of a new surgery.
Campaigners tried to save the surgery and called on the NHS to step in. It came close to rescue when NHS England South East said they had approved a proposal from Brighton Health and Wellbeing Centre in January.
However the plan fell through when NHS England said the replacement practice was no longer viable. The Argus revealed the NHS was paying nearby practices a £25 a head fee to take Eaton Place patients. The surgery shut yesterday evening after 100 years of care.