A SHORTAGE of doctors in the district forced Maldon surgeries to spend more than £200,000 on locums.

Both Blackwater Medical Centre and Longfield Medical Centre have been forced to close their lists to new patients due to a lack of doctors.

Blackwater is operating without two of its partners and as a result the two have spent £225,000 on locums between April 2016 and March 2017.

The figures for this year are still increasing quickly.

Speaking at a meeting of Maldon District Council’s overview and scrutiny committee, the surgeries’ practice managers explained the difficulties they were facing.

Lesley Beale, from Blackwater Medical Centre, said: “It is very difficult at the moment.

“We are covering multiple sessions with locums.

“It is hard but we are doing our best for our patients.

“We can’t see the point of opening our lists.

“We have too many patients already, taking more on with less doctors is not safe for the doctors or the patients.”

David Barker, practice manager at Longfield, added: “We are trying our best.

“A big problem we have is patients not turning up for appointments.

“We are seeing up to 50 appointments a week wasted.

“We introduced text alerts to try and combat this problem.

“The whole idea of the text message is that patients are reminded about their appointment and more likely to attend.”

Another issue raised by the GPs was not just the shortage of doctors but the difficulty in recruiting them.

Dr Julie McGeachy, from Tillingham Medical Centre, said the rural nature of the district discouraged many doctors from moving to the area as it was considered more work.

Ms Beale also suggested patients needed to act more responsibly with what needed GP attention and what didn’t.

She said: “We need to educate the patients, they come to us for everything.

“They do not need to see a doctor for half of it but it is their right.”

Councillor Mark Heard suggested guidance leaflets be sent to all homes in the district about when it was appropriate to visit a GP.

The council agreed this was a good idea and the suggestion is being investigated.