LABOUR’S shadow health secretary has called on the government to fix problems at five Swindon GP surgeries.

It follows complaints over difficulties booking appointments and getting hold of prescriptions at the surgeries overseen by Manchester firm Integral Medical Holdings.

Patients have reported spending hours on the end of the phone trying to get through to their surgeries, after the new booking system was introduced in late summer.

Jon Ashworth, shadow secretary of state for health and social care, said: “Swindon residents deserve access to the best local health services including getting to see a GP when they need to.

“It’s clear Swindon residents have been let down by this incompetent private firm that has taken over local surgeries. It is time the health secretary stepped in and sorted out this mess. Swindon residents deserve better than what’s happened so far.”

A protest is set to be held tomorrow outside Moredon Medical Centre, one of the surgeries hit by the recent changes.

Organiser Kate Linnegar, Labour’s prospective parliamentary candidate for North Swindon, said of the problems at the IMH surgeries: “People are concerned that the situation may result in someone’s health being seriously damaged or even an otherwise avoidable death.”

Justin Tomlinson, MP for North Swindon, said he had met health bosses on several occasions to demand changes.

Responding to Labour’s calls for government to intervene, he said: “I will continue to push for improvements to be made to this new system which was poorly implemented.

“To date, we have made IMH invest to increase the number of call handlers to over and above historic levels. IMH has now confirmed that they have increased the number of clinical staff by 15, including additional GPs.

“I will continue to push for any outstanding issues to be sorted through my daily conversations with them and I am having further meetings over the course of the next week to ensure that patient outcomes are improved.”

Earlier this week, IMH’s Swindon boss Nigel Sweeney attended a patients’ forum organised by Healthwatch. Mr Sweeney refused to speak to reporters after the meeting. Bazil Solomon, from Eldene, said he had spent the meeting “blaming everyone else” for thesurgeries’ problems.