The Neyland and Johnston GP practice has been granted a reprieve following today's decision by Hywel Dda to retain the full patient list.

Concerns have been growing since the announcement was made earlier this summer that all attempts to recruit new GPs to take over the practice following the retirement of the current doctors at the end of October had failed.

But this afternoon the Health Board confirmed it will be running the surgery as a 'managed practice'.

The announcement has been welcomed by Neyland Town Council.

"We appreciate that a managed practice is not the ideal solution, but as an interim measure to allow time for an alternative GP service provider to put forward a viable business case, the Board’s bold and sensible decision is certainly welcomed by the Neyland community," commented Cllr Steve Thomas.

There were fears that the surgery's current patient list, which amounts to around 6,000 patients, would be broken up.  As a result, people living nearer to Milford Haven or Haverfordwest would have had to source alternative GPs.

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"The decision to maintain the existing patient list of approximately 6,000 patients is important to the long-term future of the practice, and is something that the town council has been calling for since we met with Members of Hywel Dda’s management team on August 11," added Cllr Thomas.

"Removing the immediate uncertainty around the future of the practice will go some way to addressing the concerns and worries of our community, regarding obtaining Health Care Services locally, in line with a stated aim of the Board."

Neyland Town Council is now urging Hywel Dda to fully engage with alternative providers and to explore all avenues available to secure the long-term future and success of the Neyland and Johnston GP Surgery.

They are also requesting that the Board seriously considers automatically moving a vacant practice to a ‘managed practice’ for a set period of a minimum of 12 months.

"This would provide some security for surgery staff and importantly remove immediate concerns of the patient base, while allowing the Vacant Practice Panel sufficient time to explore every avenue, which would be in addition to their already extensive workload," added Cllr Thomas.