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Havens Health GP Practice
Proposed Rowe Avenue Branch Closure
Patient Engagement Breakdown of Respondents
• Total Number of Questionnaires completed = 354 (1.85% of patients registered)
Who completed the questionnaire?
- Patients: 347 - 98% of respondents
- Unpaid Carers: 4 - 1.1%
- Paid Carers: 0 - 0.0%
- Preferred not to say: 3 - 0.8 %
Which Surgery were the respondents registered with prior to the merger of Rowe Avenue and Meridian Surgeries in October 2020?
- Meridian Surgery: 206 - 58.2% of respondents
- Rowe Avenue: 121 - 34.2%
- Neither: 27 - 7.6%
How old were the respondents?
- Over 85: 13 - 3.7%
- 66-85: 176 - 49.7%
- 46-65: 121 - 34.2%
- 26-45: 35 - 9.9%
- 18-25: 2 - 0.6%
- Under 18: 0 - 0.0%
- Prefer not to say: 6 - 1.7%
- No answer: 1 - 0.3%
How did the respondents feel about the proposed closure?
- The closure would not affect me much: 279 - 78.8%
- The closure would cause me a minor inconvenience: 47 - 13.3%
- The closure would cause me a major inconvenience: 28 - 7.9%
The results of this last question can be broken down according to which practice patients were registered with at the time of the merger, or the age of the respondents as follows:
The closure would not affect me much
Total: 279/78.8%
Meridian: 165/80.1%
Rowe: 91/75.2%
Neither: 23/85.2%
The closure would cause me a minor inconvenience
Total: 47/13.3%
Meridian: 24/11.7%
Rowe: 19/15.7%
Neither: 4/14.8%
The closure would cause me a major inconvenience
Total: 28/7.9%
Meridian: 17/8.3%
Rowe: 11/9.1%
Neither: 0/0.0%
The closure would not affect me much
Total: 279/78.8%
18-25: 1/50%
26-45: 25/71.4%
46-65: 95/78.5%
66-55: 146/83%
85+: 9/69.2%
The closure would cause me a minor inconvenience
Total: 47/13.3%
18-25: 1/50%
26-45: 5/14.3%
46-65: 7/5.8%
66-55: 17/9.7%
85+: 0/0.0%
The closure would cause me a major inconvenience
Total: 28/7.9%
18-25: 0/0.0%
26-45: 5/14.3%
46-65: 95/78.5%
66-55: 13/7.4%
85+: 4/30.8%
Summary of Patient Comments
Patient Concerns
1. Appointments
- Closing the Rowe Avenue site could worsen already significant difficulties in getting appointments.
- Moving all patients to Meridian/Anchor might increase pressure on an already overstretched service, leading to even longer waiting times and reduced appointment availability.
2. Accessibility & Travel
- The Rowe Avenue site is within walking distance or better served by public transport.
- Parking at the Meridian/Anchor site is already inadequate and will be made worse by additional patients.
3. Loss of Services
- Where will specific services currently provided at Rowe Avenue (such as specialist clinics, scans, diabetes checks, and emergency appointments) be relocated?
- Does the Anchor site have enough space and staff to accommodate all patients and services, and what will be the effect on staff workload?
4. Future Provision
- Peacehaven is growing and needs more medical provision, not less - the closure is short-sighted given population growth and the likelihood of needing more space in the near future.
5. Communication
- Greater transparency about plans and capacity is needed.
Patient Support Suggestions
1. Appointments
- More doctors, nurses, and support staff should be provided at the remaining surgery to cope with increased demand.
- All services currently available at Rowe Avenue, including specialist clinics and ultrasound, should continue to be provided locally and not moved further afield.
- Reinstate / improve online appointment booking.
2. Accessibility & Travel
- Expand parking provision and/or improve links, such as better bus services or provide transport for those with mobility issues.
- Introduce / expand home visiting capacity for those unable to travel to the surgery.
3. Loss of Services
- Please guarantee that staff will be retained and facilities at the remaining surgery will be expanded before closure.
4. Future Provision
- Keep the Rowe Avenue building for additional NHS services rather than selling it for flats
- Ensure there are a sufficient number of consulting rooms at the Anchor site for increased patient numbers.
5. Communication
- Clear communication is needed about which services will continue or change.
Watch the PowerPoint Presentation
Patient Engagement Response to Patient Feedback
Appointments
- Closing the Rowe Avenue site could worsen already significant difficulties in getting appointments
- Moving all patients to Meridian/Anchor might increase pressure on an already overstretched service, leading to even longer waiting times and reduced appointment availability.
- More doctors, nurses, and support staff should be provided at the remaining surgery to cope with increased demand
The number of appointment the surgery offers will not be affected at all with the branch closure. All practice staff working at the branch surgery will relocate to the Anchor site, working the same number of hours and same number of clinics.
The branch closure will mean the surgery has one less Reception desk to staff, and so there will be more staff available to answer the phones.
- All services currently available at Rowe Avenue, including specialist clinics and ultrasound, should continue to be provided locally and not moved further afield.
If the surgery presently provides the service, it will continue.
We cannot give the same level of assurance for services that we do not directly provide, such as the Ultrasound service, or the Pain Clinic. However, we are in discussion with other providers to try and ensure that these services will continue to operate locally.
- Reinstate / improve online appointment booking
We are working on introducing an expanded, improved online appointment service later this year.
Accessibility & Travel
- The Rowe Avenue site is better served by public transport.
While we are not responsible for bus routes, we are aware that buses usually go around Peacehaven, and there is no frequent bus that goes directly from the Sutton Avenue / South Coast Road roundabout north to the Anchor Healthcare Centre or back again. We will contact Brighton & Hove Buses and request a variation in the services provided.
- Parking at the Meridian/Anchor site is already inadequate and will be made worse by additional patients.
We acknowledge that parking is difficult at the Anchor site. Unfortunately, because the site is small, we can only expand the car park by another 6 or so parking spaces. We have looked into this, but the cost to the surgery (after grants) is at least £50,000, which we cannot afford.
There is free parking at both the Meridian Centre car parks for those who can walk.
- Expand parking provision and/or improve links, such as better bus services or provide transport for those with mobility issues.
When the Centre is redeveloped, we understand that there will continue to be free parking, and there will hopefully be a few extra parking spaces on Meridian Way.
We will also lobby Morrisons to build a new car park just off Sutton Avenue, to the north of Meridian Park and behind the Children & Families Centre.
- Introduce / expand home visiting capacity for those unable to travel to the surgery.
We already visit many housebound patients every day.
In the time it takes to visit a patient two or three patients could be seen at the surgery.
To increase the number of visits will mean that there will be fewer available appointments.
We are reviewing our home visit policy, to ensure that we have a register of those who are truly housebound.
Loss of Services
- Where will specific services currently provided at Rowe Avenue (such as specialist clinics, scans, diabetes checks, and emergency appointments) be relocated?
If the surgery provides the service, it will continue at the Anchor site.
For the services that we do not directly provide, we are in discussion with other providers to try and ensure that these services will continue to operate locally.
- Does the Anchor site have enough space and staff to accommodate all patients and services, and what will be the effect on staff workload?
We have identified a number of rooms at the Anchor site that can be used by the Surgery. We aim to take on those rooms as soon as possible.
Some of the rooms will need to be modified, so that they are fit for use as consulting rooms.
Once the work is completed, the Surgery will have more consulting rooms at the Anchor Site than it presently has across both sites.
The Surgery has enough staff to run all the services we provide.
Moving all staff onto one site will improve our staff efficiency and therefore improve the service we provide for our patients.
We regularly review our staffing levels – doctors, nurses, front desk and back office – and regularly advertise when there are vacancies.
- Please guarantee that staff will be retained and facilities at the remaining surgery will be expanded before closure.
All members of staff presently employed by the surgery will be retained.
We are not responsible for staff employed by other providers who work from the two Surgery sites. However, we are in discussion with other providers to try and ensure that these services will continue to operate locally.
Future provision
- Peacehaven is growing and needs more medical provision, not less - the closure is short-sighted given population growth and the likelihood of needing more space in the near future.
The number of patients registered with the practice has increased by about 1% over the last two years.
The extra rooms we hope to take on at the Anchor site will mean there will be more rooms at the Anchor site than the Practice presently has across both sites. This will be enough space for another few years, even taking account of continued practice growth and the shift of care from hospitals to general practice.
- Keep the Rowe Avenue building for additional NHS services rather than selling it for flats
The lease at the Rowe Avenue site ends this year.
NHS rules only take into account the present situation, and not what is likely to happen over the next few years. The rules will not allow the Surgery to have the extra rooms at the Anchor site as well as the Rowe Avenue site
- Ensure there are a sufficient number of consulting rooms at the Anchor site for increased patient numbers.
While the Practice would also like the Rowe Avenue site to be available should the need for expansion arise in a few years, what happens to the site is not our decision.
Communication
- Greater transparency about plans and capacity is needed.
We will have a dedicated page on the Practice website regarding the proposed Branch Closure.
This will have information about what the Practice plans to do.
- Clear communication is needed about which services will continue or change.
As and when there are updates regarding the Branch Closure the Practice will update the website and put posters up in the waiting rooms.
Published: Jul 24, 2025