A petition against the Shropdoc service moving over to NHS 111 has been handed in just days before the changeover.

Gill George from Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin Defend Our NHS presented the petition with around 500 signatures to Shropshire Clinical Commissioning Group members on Wednesday [DEL JULY 11].

Also addressed to Shropshire MPs, it called for a last minute U-turn on the proposal which from tomorrow [DEL JULY 17] will see callers put through to a call centre in Dudley rather than local doctors.

Ms George said it will lead to extra pressure on services.

But she also voiced concerns that the decision has been a national one from NHS England and has therefore not been subject to a public consultation.

She continued: “Currently, people can ring our excellent local Out of Hours GP service when we need urgent medical advice.

“To be forced to go instead through a Dudley call centre and an impersonal computer system is a huge loss. We will no longer have direct access to the very, very good service we’ve had from Shropdoc in the past. It means control of another chunk of our NHS goes to a faceless private company. It’s also likely to lead to an increase in ambulance use and A&E attendances, because NHS 111 lacks the knowledge of local alternatives.

“This is bad for all of us, which is why it would be great if our MPs were able to support giving their constituents a choice.”

At the CCG board meeting, when the petition was handed over, members were told the NHS 111 system was ready to go live on July 17.

Director of performance and delivery, Dr Julie Davies, added that Shropshire is one of the last CCGs to go over to the new system with most moving over a year ago.