THOUSANDS of doctors’ patients across the Wellington area were left shocked on Thursday (July 31) by news of the impending closure of one of the town’s GP surgeries.

The two-partner Luson Surgery will close in September and its 6,600 patients will be transferred to nearby Wellington Medical Centre.

The news comes nine months after NHS Somerset declared Luson’s premises were among the poorest quality medical buildings in the county and ‘not fit for purpose’.

Practice partner Dr Rachel Yates said it was a ‘difficult decision to close from the autumn’ but despite the best efforts of the Luson team the surgery had faced increasing challenges over the past 18 months with staffing recruitment and retention issues as well as the state of the premises.

The closure, which is scheduled for September 26, will be discussed on Monday by Wellington town councillors, who were already due to talk about NHS Somerset’s decision not to reopen 10 beds in the town’s community hospital which were mothballed during the Covid pandemic.

NHS Somerset made no reference to the future of Jhoots pharmacy to the rear of Luson, which in recent months has attracted increasing complaints from patients about sudden closures and an apparent lack of staff, leading to lengthy waits for prescription medicines.

A Luson spokesperson said on social media: “We are aware there are currently staff shortages at Jhoots.

“We are unable to reissue prescriptions that have already been assigned to Jhoots.

“Jhoots are able to print a token for any prescriptions they are unable to issue and patients may take this token to an alternative pharmacy.

“Our reception team cannot help with these concerns.

“We appreciate your understanding and we acknowledge how this may be affecting our patients.”

The Wellington Weekly approached Jhoots for an explanation of the pharmacy’s difficulties but did not receive a response.