VILLAGE FIGHTS FOR ITS LIFELINE

A vital campaign to restore healthcare to rural East Leeds has taken a major step forward; but local people say they are living in limbo as emergency plans to convert a community centre into a temporary doctors’ surgery await final sign-off. 

Residents in Scholes have been forced to travel miles outside the village for basic medical appointments since the sudden closure of Scholes Surgery on Main Street. The vital practice shut its doors in April after the building’s landlord gave notice of their intention to sell the property, leaving a community without its medical anchor. 

To counter the devastating loss, local ward councillors and the West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) have drawn up emergency proposals to convert the council-owned Manor House Community Centre on Belle Vue Road. If approved, the site will serve as a functioning medical clinic for a three-year period while a permanent solution is sought. 

“Scholes is a village with an increasingly older population, so we knew it would be important to find a local solution to retain a GP surgery in the locality,” said Councillor Ryan Stephenson. He noted that the Manor House was the “only viable option” available to protect vulnerable residents from gruelling journeys. 

The Toll on Vulnerable Residents 

For the village’s elderly and non-driving population, the reality of the closure has been a significant burden. 

“It has turned a simple doctor’s visit into a stressful, half-day ordeal,” says one retired resident, who wished to remain anonymous. “When you are elderly or feeling deeply unwell, navigating bus timetables and walking in the cold just to get a routine check-up is exhausting. We feel completely cut off from basic care.” 

Until the final approvals are confirmed and the building conversions are fully complete, patients face this challenging travel routine. Routine appointments and medical services remain consolidated at the primary Manston Surgery branch, located on the first floor of the Cross Gates Medical Centre on Station Road (LS15 8BZ). 

For many, this means a stressful trip on public transport. Residents must catch the 11A First Leeds bus from the Coronation Tree stop on Main Street, which only runs roughly every 60 minutes. The journey takes 18 minutes to Cross Gates Centre, followed by a five-minute walk to the clinic – a distance local patients say is far from ideal when you are fragile. 

The Final Hurdles 

Despite the momentum behind the Manor House proposal, local health bosses stress that final approval has not yet been granted. The project cannot move forward without three critical final signoffs, expected to culminate in the coming weeks: 

• Planning Permission: A formal “change of use” application must be officially approved by Leeds City Council planners.
• Consultation Outcomes: NHS bosses are currently reviewing feedback from intensive public engagement activities, specifically consulting with the community groups who stand to lose their space at the centre. 
• Financial & Legal Agreements: Final decisions regarding council financial liability, NHS funding, and legal building leases must be formally ratified. 

While the village waits for Leeds City Council and NHS bosses to sign off on the Manor House plan, residents requiring appointments or repeat prescriptions are advised to contact Manston Surgery directly on 0113 264 5454 or use their online services.