A POPULAR healthcare provider with a 97 per cent approval rating will be moving out of Cirencester Hospital.


Private company Care UK has been operating out of the Tetbury Road hospital since 2009, providing high-quality medical expertise for the NHS from ear, nose and throat procedures to orthopaedic surgery.


Since it opened, Cirencester NHS Treatment Centre it has treated 8,744 patients and performed 10,000 procedures.


The treatment centre’s contract to provide medical expertise and operations ends in October and a senior staff member has revealed they will not be seeking to renew the contract.


Care UK’s hospital director Pamela Mackie said: “The original arrangement for the treatment centre, set up by the NHS in 2009, runs out at the end of October this year and we understand that it has been decided not to re-commission this kind of service in the same way. We are now considering the future of Care UK’s services in the town after this time.


“We recognise the importance of Cirencester NHS Treatment Centre to the local community and we are trying to find a way of delivering some of the healthcare services currently provided in the town by Care UK beyond October this year.


“We anticipate being able to continue to provide an out-patient clinic and consultant assessment service in the Cirencester area for pre and post-surgery assessments, tests and check-ups.”


Patients will still have the option of seeing the same clinicians at two sister sites in Emersons Green in Bristol and Devizes when services end later this year.


Care UK ceasing operations will come as a blow to Cirencester as recent surveys revealed that in the past year 97 per cent of patients have said that they are satisfied with the service and 98 per cent said that they would recommend it to a friend


Duncan Jordan, chief operating officer at Gloucestershire Care Services NHS Trust, said: “The existing contract that Care UK has with Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group (GCCG) will come to an end in October 2015 and they have decided not to continue to use the theatre.


“However, we are in advanced discussions with other NHS providers about use of the theatre facilities at Cirencester Hospital and are confident that the facilities will be fully utilised.


“We have been working hard with GCCG and local GPs to ensure the hospital provides the most appropriate range of services for local people, and that it continues to be at the centre of local health service.


“Details of how the theatre will be used after October will be made public as soon as the details have been finalised.”


GCCG is in charge of making sure services are provided in the county. They were quick to assure residents services would not suffer.


GCCG accountable officer Mary Hutton said: “We are committed to ensuring day surgery services are available at Cirencester Hospital when the existing contract with Care UK comes to an end in October 2015.

“The local GPs and Gloucestershire Care Services NHS Trust are keen for these services to be provided by known specialists and fully joined up with other local services for the benefit of patients.”