CENTRAL Devon MP Mel Stride has teamed up with Teignbridge District Councillors Terry Tume and Stephen Purser to try and retain a vital local GP surgery.

Early on in the Covid-19 pandemic the St Thomas Medical Group, which runs Pathfinder Village Surgery within the parish of Tedburn St Mary, temporarily closed the surgery on health and safety grounds.

The medical group recently wrote to local residents to say that they were considering making the closure permanent and invited patients to take part in a short consultation.

This is not the first time that Mr Stride has intervened to try to save the surgery – he did so successfully through a local petition he organised in 2011.

Cllr Tume explained: “Residents in Pathfinder Village really value their GP surgery. The St Thomas Health Centre in Cowick Street in Exeter is not easy for many of our residents to get to.

“I fear that a permanent closure will result in residents potentially not seeking medical help when they need it or relying more on home visits from a GP which surely would be less convenient for the surgery.”

Mr Stride added: “Preserving GP provision in Pathfinder Village is essential. I hope that St Thomas Medical Group will listen carefully to the overwhelming feelings of local residents who desperately want to see their surgery re-open.”

The wording of the petition, launched by Mr Stride, Cllr Tume and Cllr Purser, reads: “We urge the St Thomas Medical Group to re-open Pathfinder Village Surgery as soon as it is safe to do so.

“We appreciate the practice’s hard work and dedication during the pandemic and that the temporary closure has been necessary for patient safety. But the surgery is a much-valued local service and needs to stay open in the long-term to help care for Pathfinder Village’s elderly population, particularly for those who don’t drive or find it difficult to use public transport.”