THE Government has admitted North East Essex is short of 28 doctors - but promised action is being taken to resolve it.

The pledge came in a parliamentary debate, initiated by Clacton MP Douglas Carswell.

Mr Carswell said North Essex had “a serious problem of primary care provision.”

A lack of GPs has resulted in surgeries not taking new patients and elderly people waiting several weeks to see a doctor.

He said others are feeling "abandoned," meanwhile a lack of primary care will further lead patients to use hospital A&E departments.

Mr Carswell also branded the consultation by the North East Essex Clinical Commissioning Group (NEECCG) over the future of the minor injuries units at Clacton and Dovercourt as “irresponsible.”

He added: “I share the view it would be absurd to shut the facility.”

David Mowat, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health, echoed the same concerns.

He said: “There are 40 GP practices and a little over 210 GPs within the CCG, which covers over 330,000 people.

"The CCG estimates it is 28 GPs short.”

Mr Mowat said it was relatively easy for GPs to get a job in Clacton.

The MP reported grants of £46,000 to the Clacton GP Alliance and almost £400,000 of capital funding to three GP practices which could come together at Clacton Hospital.

He described single GP surgeries as “not viable” and added: “We find a GP hub of between 30,000 to 40,000 patients enables more scale with extra specialist services and longer opening hours".

Concerning walk-in services, Mr Mowat also said he believed rather than having closure in mind, the CCG was consulting “because contracts were up, and it wanted to look at options and how to do better.”

Some 3,500 replies had been sent to the CCG, which it would consider, along with Tuesday’s debate.

“I would be surprised if closure of the centres was top of the list, given the other pressures on GP practices, the hospital and so on," Mr Mowat said.

"Clearly a lot more needs to be done. I am happy to continue to meet Mr Carswell in the months ahead if we are not making progress.”