A GP surgery in Whalley has been forced to close its doors once again today (7 January) after suffering a power cut.

It’s the second day in a row that the surgery has suffered 'electrical faults' and they have called in electricians to try and resolve their issue.

Staff at Whalley Surgery on King Street have asked patients to call Sabden Surgery, The Holme, Sabden if their call is urgent.

Dr Tim Golding, GP and Senior Partner of the Sabden and Whalley Medical Group, said yesterday's power outage was said to be caused by a ‘burnt out’ electricity meter.

He said: “We had a power outage at our main surgery site in Whalley yesterday morning… the problem had been fully resolved West Electricity after several hours.

“We were told that the main fuse had failed and a power cable running from the electricity meter into the building had ‘burnt out’ and had also been replaced.

“The practice continued to operate face to face GP & practice nurse appointments and dispensing from our branch surgery in Sabden and also maintained our service by medical and administrative staff working remotely using laptops and conducting consultations of the telephone.

“Normal appointments were resumed mid-afternoon when we thought the problem had been fully resolved”.

 

However, Dr Golding added that they were “disappointed” to face the same electrical issues today (7 January).

He said: “We were very disappointed to have exactly the same fault develop first thing this morning at approximately 8.15am.

“We lost all electrical supply once more and once again North West Electricity have been out and restored the supply.

“They have advised us that there must be a ‘fault’ within the electrical supply within the building for this same outage to recur again.”

Electricians are currently investigating and conducting repair work within the Whalley Surgery building.

Dr Golding said: “As they need to turn the power supply on and off to undertake this work throughout the afternoon, we have taken the decision to keep the main surgery closed today.

“All functions continue to operate from the branch surgery in Sabden, and we are very grateful for the understanding we have had from our patients during this difficult time.

“The practice team is doing everything we can to maintain our service but inevitably some face to face appointments that were scheduled to take place at Whalley Surgery today have had to be converted to telephone appointments or rescheduled.

“If patients are unwell this afternoon they can contact the practice at Sabden Surgery on 01282 772045.

“At this stage we are confident that a full service will resume from Whalley Surgery on Monday.”