Cllr Mark Hooper, Cabinet Member for Health and Well-being, has written to Wes Streeting, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, to request a meeting to discuss the difficulties Thurrock residents face in accessing frontline health services.
The letter followed news that that Thurrock has least number of GPs per patient population, with nearly twice as many patients for each GP, compared the best served areas.
Cllr Hooper said: “I have real concerns that our residents, and our hard-working GPs and frontline medical staff, are being failed by the inadequate healthcare provision we have in the borough.
“We were due to have four new Integrated Medical and Wellbeing Centres in the borough, however a lack of funding means that three of these have been scrapped. That puts increasing pressure on an ailing Orsett Hospital, which itself requires over £10 million in critical repairs to stay operational.
“I would greatly appreciate the opportunity to meet with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to discuss these concerns in more detail and explore potential solutions to ensure that Thurrock’s residents receive the quality of health care they deserve.”