A GP is delighted after successfully winning a bid to run Withnell Health Centre, after years of campaigning.

Dr Ann Robinson has been in charge of the health centre for 11 years but her position came under threat around three years ago, after other healthcare providers were invited to take over.

What followed was 18 months of campaigning and “uncertainty” as staff and patients fought for Dr Robinson to remain at the helm of the GP surgery.

Now, the NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB), has confirmed Dr Robinson is the successful bidder to provide general medical services at the practice.

Dr Robinson said: “It’s been three-and-a-half years since the process started but the campaign has been going on for 18 months.

“Myself and my staff have been through such upheaval and heartbreak. There has also been a huge amount of uncertainty for patients as to what is going to happen to their healthcare.

“So much uncertainty was dangling over us for all that time.

“It is a huge relief to get the news. After I received the call yesterday (July 11), I went into reception and told the staff and we were all overjoyed.

“I can’t tell you how it feels to have so many people backing me. It feels humbling and shows what the power of true community spirit is. When you see a community coming together, the force of that is unbelievable.

“I want to thank every member of our wonderful staff and our 5,500 patients who supported us and made this happen.”

Louise France is the lead campaigner for the Withnell Health Centre Campaign Group, which has been campaigning for Dr Robinson to continue running Withnell Health Centre.

She said there have been “tears of happiness throughout the corridors of Withnell Health Centre” this morning.

She said: “As head campaigner, I cannot express how much joy I feel knowing that we won our fight to keep Dr Robinson and her team.

“The last 18 months have been so hard for all of us, the stress, the uncertainty, the spiralling costs of it all but it was all worth it to deliver this huge victory for our community.

“What we have achieved here is ground-breaking, overturning the first procurement and fighting back to achieve the right outcome the second time around and it sets a precedence for any GP surgeries who face this awful situation in the future.

“I want to again express my thanks to all the staff at the health centre, all the patients for their incredible support and to Dr Robinson herself who is quite simply the definition of an NHS hero.”

Professor Craig Harris, chief operating officer for NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB), said: “I am pleased to be able to provide this update regarding Withnell Health Centre.

“The ICB’s primary care commissioning committee has accepted the recommendation of the procurement evaluation panel and confirmed Dr Ann Robinson is the successful bidder to provide general medical services at the practice.

“The ICB will now work with Dr Robinson to sign the final contract and, subject to any challenges during what is known as a standstill period, the new contract will be in effect from 1 October 2024.

“I would like to once again take this opportunity to thank everyone involved in the procurement evaluation process, especially the patients of Withnell Health Centre who volunteered to be part of the procurement evaluation panel.

“I would also like to thank the Withnell patient steering group which has represented the views of patients at Withnell Health Centre with admirable dedication throughout this time, as well as all those who took the time to give their views throughout an extensive public engagement period.

“While it has taken some time to reach this point, our commitment has at all times been to ensure the process was carried out as quickly and fairly as possible to support the patients of the practice and the staff who work there, and I am confident this has been achieved.”

Dr Robinson initially lost out to a conglomerate that runs more than 40 GP practices across the north west, but after uproar from locals – and an admission from NHS bosses that the process had been deficient for not properly consulting patients – she was handed a reprieve while the health service went back to the drawing board.

While she hoped to be awarded the contract without new competition, the ICB later said procurement rules meant it would have to launch a fresh bidding process.

In April, 5,500 patients registered at the practice recently raised £9,600 in order to pay for a professional bid writer to help Dr Robinson secure her contract.