9th November 2011

LYME REGIS: Doctor evicted from Medical Centre

By Philip Evans

DOCTOR Ian Conway was evicted from Lyme Regis Medical Centre on Friday.

The following statement was posted on the Lyme Practice website: “Dr Ian Conway will be evicted from the Lyme Regis Medical Centre and as a consequence the PCT has withdrawn his contract to provide medical services to the communities of Lyme Regis and Charmouth.

“He would like to sincerely thank all his patients and staff who have shown unprecedented loyalty and support.”

It brings to a close years of wrangling between Dr Conway and former Lyme Regis GPs, Dr Andrew Llewelyn and Dr Lindsay Slater, and follows a High Court Action over the ownership of the building brought against them by Dr Conway and Mrs Alison Robinson, the practice manager at the centre and the wife of the late Dr Barry Robinson.

The High Court judge vested the ownership of the centre in the names of Dr Llewelyn and Dr Slater, who practised at the centre until 1999.

Drs Llewelyn and Slater were awarded significant indemnity costs and consequential damages by the High Court, thought to run into excess of six figures.

Following the eviction, NHS Dorset has entered into a temporary arrangement with Dr Forbes Watson, of the Lyme Bay Medical Practice, to take over the running of the medical centre with immediate effect.

Contract terminated

Dr Conway’s patients staged a campaign to keep him at the centre, including a petition to NHS Dorset signed by over 1,600 patients.

The following statement was issued by NHS Dorset on Monday morning: “Dr Conway was given notice to leave Lyme Regis Medical Centre by November 4th 2011 by the owners of the premises.

“As a result of this, NHS Dorset has had to terminate his contract as he no longer had suitable premises from which to provide medical services.

“NHS Dorset has let a temporary contract to Dr Watson while a longer term arrangement is sought. Please note that the two practices at Lyme Regis Medical Centre and Lyme Bay Surgery will remain separate and the Charmouth Surgery, which also provides services to people in Lyme, is unaffected.

“All the doctors who were working for Dr Conway have been transferred to Dr Watson’s temporary contract and will remain at the practice, as will all other staff members who have chosen to do so.

“The community services that were provided by Dr Conway’s practice will also remain the same.

“Patients should see no change in the way that they access and receive services. They can continue to book appointments as usual on the same telephone number 01297 445777.

“Please be assured that we are working closely with Dr Watson to ensure minimal disruption as a result of this change.

“Updates on the tendering process for the permanent contract will be available on the PCT website www.dorset.nhs.uk/news/lymeregis.htm and via the Medical Centre.”

Mrs Hazel Read, one of the leading campaigners to keep Dr Conway at the Medical Centre, said she and other patients were “devasted” that Lyme had lost “a wonderful doctor”.

She said: “I think everybody is well aware of the circumstances surrounding this case and will not forget. I have read the whole of the court case in the last few days and was astonished to read in the Judge’s summing up, a statement saying:

‘It was made plain on behalf of Drs Llewelyn and Slater that they had no intention whatsoever to evict Dr Conway’. Really, so why did it happen then?

“The PCT has now put in place a contingency plan and Dr Watson will be overseeing the Medical Centre for a short period, after which the community will be consulted on the awarding of a permanent contract. It is then that I, and all the other patients, should remember the doctors who worked with Dr Conway, and who are still practicing at the Medical Centre. Perhaps they could put in a tender for the permanent contract. That would be a very popular choice and it would be our choice. Has justice been done? I think not.

“Dr Conway you will be missed, after devoting 34 years of your life to caring for others. You deserve much better than this.”

Fifteen per cent of the medical centre is owned by the League of Friends whose chairman, Mrs Shirley Williams, said: “We are pleased the ownership issue has been resolved and that jobs at the medical centre are safe.

“Hopefully any bitterness can be put aside after this long dispute and that the medical centre will continue to offer such a good service.”