The sudden announcement that a Clapton Park Estate GP surgery will close has left patients having to find a new doctor, and staff looking for a new job.

Sorsby Health Centre in Mandeville Street will shut by the end of June, when its contract ends, due to the costs of running it.

City and Hackney Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) said it was working with NHS England to ensure the impact on patients would be “kept to an absolute minimum”.

But Rick Oughton, 70, who lives down the road, said he would now need to help his wheelchair-bound wife Mary-Jane, 80, into a car to drive her to a new surgery. He and all other patients were sent letters earlier this month breaking the news.

“A lot of people rely on that centre,” said Rick, who helped build it while working as a contractor for Hackney Council. “I’ve been there since 1972.

“They’ve sent a letter of alternative surgeries, one in Kenworthy Road, but that’s quite a distance away.

“My wife is in a wheelchair and now I’ll have to get her in the car to go to the doctor’s.”

Staff at the centre are also unhappy with how they were told, saying it came as a shock to them.

General manager Michelle Caulker told the Gazette: “We are all seeking employment, seven staff and the GPs. We have a lot of long-term locum that now need to find employment.

“We’re not happy about it. We’ve now got three months to find a new job. It was a shock.”

Dr Mark Rickets, chair of the CCG, said: “Sorsby patients are being encouraged to register with one of seven nearby GP practices that are accepting new patients, and located within a mile of Sorsby, before 30 June.

“Once registered with a new practice, patient medical records will be transferred electronically. Vulnerable patients will also be supported to register with a new GP practice.”

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“Patients can continue to use the Sorsby practice until 30 June and will be automatically registered with a nearby practice if they do not self-register beforehand.”