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| Bury Free Press, 28 July 2003 |
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| LOOMING crisis in the number of doctors' surgeries in Bury St Edmunds and Thurston has so far failed to spark public interest. |
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| Public meetings at Thurston and Moreton Hall Community Centre were greeted with public apathy – but MP David Ruffley has called for another meeting, arguing he feels many people are not aware of the crisis or the options currently being considered. |
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| Now the public has been given another chance to have their say at two more meetings. |
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| The trust already had one more public meeting scheduled for September 3, ahead of the date of the final decision due on September 17 |
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| And last Wednesday, the trust decided, in light of the low turnout at recent meetings, that another public meeting should also be scheduled – at a date and venue yet to be agreed upon. |
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| A spokesman on behalf of the trust said: "We had hoped for more people. We are of course grateful to the Bury Free Press for promoting the meeting." |
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| David Ruffley, Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket MP, said: "We are not at crisis point at the moment but we could be in just three years' time and that is what I worry about and have sleepless nights about. |
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| "The attendance to both meetings was derisory and exceedingly disappointing. I believe the trust did their best to publicise them but I refuse to believe the public is not interested in this. |
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| "If you just look at the Bury surgeries such as the Swan and Mount Farm – the pressure in Bury is going to grow because of the growing community. |
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| "People ought to know that in three years' time they, their relatives and friends are not going to be able to regsiter with a doctor because the surgeries will be full. |
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"Few people are aware of the crisis or of the options and that is why I have written to the primary care trust asking that there should be another public meeting."
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| The Suffolk West Primary Care Trust admits it has known since December that it needs new or extended GP services to provide for an anticipated 7,404 new patients that will be living in the area by 2016. |
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| There are a number of options on the table. These include a new surgery in Bury – probably an extension of or branch of existing practice in town – or a branch surgery in Thurston. |
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