Family doctors are shunning the sick in Wickford because the area is not desirable enough, it has been claimed.
GPs in the area are battling a crisis shortage of doctors as development in the town grows apace and fewer and fewer professionals want to move there.
Some family practitioners are even considering closing their books to new patients, a last resort as they try to attract doctors to the area.
Cherryl Carter, head of corporate affairs for Billericay, Brentwood and Wickford Primary Care Trust, said there was a shortage of GPs throughout south Essex, but Wickford in particular was seen as "not desirable".
She said: "There is a GP shortage generally in south Essex, but Wickford is taking the brunt and all the new building is not helping. Developments are going up with no thought about the infrastructure."
Currently there are 26 vacancies for GPs throughout south Essex, nearly a quarter of them in Wickford.
More in today's Evening Echo
Published Tuesday, April 9, 2002
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