Statement – Withnell Health Centre - 22 February 2023

Kevin Lavery chief executive of Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board (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 current 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.”