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Maldon District Councillor Wendy Stamp has said she is partly to blame for residents' confusion over the possibility of Burnham Surgery relocating.

Speaking at a public meeting held at Ormiston Rivers Academy last Friday (August 18), Cllr Stamp (Ind, Burnham-on-Crouch North) read out an email from a council planning officer.

An extract from the email appeared on social media, igniting fears that the town's surgery may be moved to the Burnham Waters development.

The email except shared on social media says:

"An appraisal of options to enhance primary care provision in Burnham has been undertaken. The assessment concluded that a new build surgery at Burnham Waters offers the best solution.

"Rebuilding a surgery on the existing site is not favoured as the site is too small to accommodate the space required.

"The scheme is at an early stage of development. However, it is expected to include a broad health and wellbeing offer delivering an enhancement over current provision. The ICB is working with the GP Practice and the developer to explore what can be achieved and further updates can be provided as plans develop. Ease of accessibility to the site will be an important consideration and will be taken into account in the business planning process before a final decision is made."

The reference to "ease of accessibility" is in response to Cllr Stamp's query regarding the difficulty some residents may face in getting to a surgery on the outskirts of town.

"I make no apologies for sharing that email, because I'm an elected member and I'm open and transparent," Cllr Stamp said.

"I hope you do listen to us, because I will do everything I can to stop that surgery moving out of the town centre."

Sir John Whittingdale says the Burnham Surgery email circulating on social media has been 'misinterpreted'. (Photo: Ben Shahrabi)

However, Maldon MP Rt Hon Sir John Whittingdale says the email has been "misinterpreted".

Following the debate, he told Nub News: "Dan Doherty said what Wendy Stamp read out was true. It is the case that the surgery asked consultants to come forward and make suggestions of the options available."

While one of the consultants' options was to move to a new development outside the town, Sir John says it is up to the to surgery itself to decide whether to act on it. That would mean tacking account of "a lot more factors", including public opinion.

"It's a huge leap to go from the fact that an external consultant has presented options to saying 'it's all been decided'," Sir John added.

"Plainly, it hasn't been decided. That's for the GPs and then the NHS."

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