Staff at Withnell Health Centre are celebrating a ‘huge win’ for the surgery as a decision to extend the GP’s contract for 18 months has been announced.

Dr Ann Robinson, who joined the practice in 2013 when Cllr Margaret France stepped down, faced losing her surgery to SSP Health.

Around 5,000 patients at Withnell Health Centre lodged letters of objection to the Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board in an attempt to prevent the takeover that was decided without proper public consultation, which the ICB later apologised for.

Staff protested and stated they would not continue working for the surgery under the ownership of SSP Health and the ICB carried out a review of the procurement process which has resulted in good news for the Withnell community.

Kevin Lavery chief executive the ICB said: “A full and robust review of the commissioning process, which includes the procurement of services for Withnell Health Centre has taken place following the large number of concerns raised by staff, patients and residents over the past number of weeks. I would like to reassure our local population that we have listened.

“The review looked at each of the stages of the process, including decisions made by the ICB and Chorley and South Ribble CCG - which is no longer in existence. During the review, we found the patient engagement that took place was not thorough enough and, due to this, a decision has been made to abandon the current procurement process.

“As the public body responsible for commissioning GP services in Lancashire and South Cumbria, we do have a duty to undertake an open procurement process for the service provided at Withnell Health Centre and all interested providers have to be fairly considered.

“The ICB intends to undertake further engagement with patients and the community in Withnell and launch a new procurement process to award the long-term contract for the service. To ensure the continuity of services at Withnell Health Centre, the interim arrangements will be extended by 18 months.

“I would like to take this opportunity to apologise to the community of Withnell as we recognise we could have done more to keep patients informed. Going forward we are committed to doing better with our public engagement and would like to reassure our local population that securing high-quality services remains a priority for the ICB.”

A spokesperson for the Save Withnell Health Centre campaign said: “The verdict is in! The contract to manage our GP surgery will be advertised again, interested parties will have to submit bids with the highest scoring bid securing the contract.

“We have been assured by the Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board that there will be a much greater emphasis on patient engagement.

“This is a huge win for each and every one of the staff working at the practice and for each and every one of you, our truly wonderful patients.

“On behalf of all the staff at Withnell Health Centre I want to thank you for your incredible support and for all of your kind donations to the Go Fund Me page.”

Commenting on the decision announced today, Andy Scaife, CEO, SSP Health said: “The ICB has today publicly acknowledged its failings in the procurement process, specifically with regard to the patient engagement process, in awarding a new contract for the management of Withnell Health Centre in Chorley.

"SSP Health has complied fully and in good faith with each stage of the procurement process and throughout has acted in the best interest of Withnell Health Centre’s patients. 

"However, some individuals have unfairly and knowingly made misleading and in some cases, completely false, statements about SSP Health both in the press and on social media. This is neither in the interests of patients or the public procurement processes which we robustly adhered to. 

"Despite having done nothing wrong throughout this process, we have not been in a position to fully defend ourselves due to the constraints of the process. 

"However we will now be considering our position and duly reserve the right to pursue any individuals who have made false or defamatory statements towards us through the due legal process.”