Change afoot for practices in rural Wyre

Great Eccleston Health Centre and Garstang Medical Practice will join Fylde and Wyre Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), which is responsible for organising and paying for healthcare in the borough, from Sunday.

They are currently under the remit of Greater Preston CCG and Morecambe Bay CCG respectively.

Dr John Miles, from Garstang Medical Centre, said: “Soon we will be able to offer some of the award-winning services that have been available to patients in other parts of Wyre for some time, such as developing an innovative rural community based neighbourhood, and that is a real plus for our local population.”

And Dr Tom Cutting, from Great Eccleston Health Centre, added: “We feel this gives us an opportunity to improve the healthcare for our patients living in rural communities.”

Fylde and Wyre CCG, which offers the Extensive Care Service to patients over 65 with two or more chronic conditions in a bid to keep their illnesses in check, will get an extra £40 million from NHS England to cope with the surge in patient numbers.