The reason behind the closure is that prior to the economic downturn it was anticipated that 1400 new homes were to be built in the Wath area. Financial assumptions were made by Wentworth North Primary Care Ltd based on the anticipated growth in patient population. However due to the economic climate the houses have not been built and Wentworth North have not been able to recruit the volume of patients they thought they would.
 
Consequently the number of patients has not grown to the expected levels. This means that the Practice will not receive the level of income required to sustain it and cover the investment made to undertake the significant refurbishments and upgrading of the building. This makes the practice financially unviable.  
 
Patient safety and continuity of care is our first priority. We have identified that there are a number of GP practices in the Wath area accepting patients. To ensure patients continuity of their medical records, patients have been allocated to one of three alternative practices. Patients can change to an alternative practice of their choice if they wish. Two of the three practices in question have already improved and expanded their premises to enable them to increase their capacity. 
 
NHS Rotherham Chief Operating Officer Chris Edwards said;
 
“We apologise to our patients who have been inconvenienced by this situation and have written to all of them personally to outline their options for receiving primary health care in the future.
 
“This has been an unusual case as the Practice was brand new starting from scratch with no patients and were working on the basis that they could recruit enough patients to gain sufficient income to cover their costs”.