DOCTORS fear they could be evicted from their own surgery in a North Yorkshire village - by the former GP who used to practise there.

Terrington Surgery has received notice from solicitors for its landlady, Dr Elizabeth Bradley, to find alternative premises.

Lawyer Andrew Little said in a letter to the practice, dated January 4, that the practice partners had made an offer to purchase the freehold, which Dr Bradley had rejected, and she had requested steps to be taken to recover the property.

He said the surgery's 'tenancy at will' would end today and the partners must provide vacant possession by this day.

"Should the property continue to be occupied after this date, I have authority to instruct bailiffs to enter the property and to change the locks," he said, adding that Dr Bradley had given a week to the partners as a 'gesture of goodwill,' should they wish to increase their offer for the property.

Dr Nick Wilson said the practice would operate as normal today and the surgery had been in emergency discussions with NHS England and the Vale of York CCG (clinical commissioning group), who had made alternative plans.

He said neither the surgery nor the CCG had any intention of closing the now thriving practice and intended to hold a meeting with patients at the earliest possible time.

Practice manager Heather White said that if the surgery was closed down, patients might have to travel 11 miles to another surgery at Helmsley to be seen by their doctors, who also practised there.

An option which would be examined in the medium term would be to open a temporary surgery in the village hall.

The Press reported in 2012 how Dr Bradley was retiring from general practice only weeks before an NHS panel was due to decide on her future.

A Primary Care Trust Performers Regulatory Panel meeting had been set to consider complaints against Dr Bradley, of Terrington Surgery near Malton, who was strongly criticised over her treatment of a cancer patient earlier in the year.

The panel was due to decide whether there were patient safety issues and any further action was needed, which could have included limitations on her working practice, suspension for further investigation or removal from the local performers’ list, meaning she could not practise as a GP.

The Press reported she had wrongly diagnosed a woman from Westow, near Malton, as suffering from fibromyalgia. Her spine was later found to have collapsed and she was diagnosed as suffering from the cancer myeloma.

The Health Service Ombudsman said the doctor’s standard of care fell so far short of the applicable standard as to amount to “service failure.'

Dr Bradley apologised to the woman then for “any distress or prolonged pain caused to you by any actions of the practice,’ and acknowledged that the service provided to her had failed, but said the surgery was a “single-handed very dedicated practice which strives to maintain a high quality of good patient care."

Dr Wilson said today that NHS England had contacted Helmsley practice at the time and asked it to take over the contract for Terrington with one days notice, which had significantly stretched its workload.

He said that since then, the practice had increased its list size by 33 per cent and achieved the highest satisfaction rates out of all the practices within the Vale of York CCG.

The CCG said this evening it was very keen to maintain the practice in Terrington and had worked to help local GPs in planning to maintain a service to patients, should the use of the building be withdrawn.

“We will work with the practice and others in the neighbouring area to support a primary care service for these patients and do all we can to minimise the disruption this action could cause,” it said.

Dr Bradley was contacted by The Press today to give her opportunity to comment, but she said she was unable to do so at this stage.