Thousands of patients at a Cally doctors are in limbo with the surgery set to close.

Roman Way Medical Centre, which has 4,700 patients on its books, will shut down on August 31. Its two lead GPs, Dr Bina Shah and Dr Stanley Ho, are retiring.

The building, which is part of the Westbourne Estate, is unlikely to continue as a practice as it’s privately owned: by Drs Shah and Stanley themselves.

Islington councillors are now lobbying the NHS for a new doctors to be set up as close as possible to the current site, so that vulnerable people aren’t affected.

In a letter to NHS England, leader Cllr Richard Watts and his deputy Cllr Janet Burgess said Roman Way Medical Centre is in a “highly deprived area – associated with poorer health status”.

They also pointed out it’s close to 43 sheltered homes, whose residents are less likely to be able to travel further.

And they reasoned the local population is set to grow by up to 3,000 in the coming years, with developments such as Holloway Prison in the pipeline.

The alternative option put forward by the NHS is dispersal, meaning the patients would be asked to register with one of 10 practices within a mile of Roman Way.

But Cllrs Watts and Burgess said four of these are small and three would have little scope for expansion.

Recently elected Caledonian Cllr Sara Hyde said of the campaign: “Roman Way Medical Centre is a highly valued and much-needed local GP surgery. We’re really sorry to see the surgery closing.

“What’s important now is that NHS England sees sense and ensures a new practice is opened as close to the current surgery as possible.

“With new housing developments in the local area on the way, including up to 1,000 homes at the Holloway Prison site at some point in the not too distant future, we can’t lose a surgery and expect other small local practices to cope with demand.

“I’m particularly concerned about older and more vulnerable people having to go further to see their doctor. We need to retain a surgery as close to the current practice as possible.”

A consultation with patients ended earlier this month.

A final decision on the matter is set to be made by the North Central London Joint Commissioning Committee next month.