The 25-year search for a site for a new GP surgery has become urgent after the roof caved in.
Flooding at Woodstock Surgery overnight caused the ceiling to collapse and took out the fire alarm system.
It happened on Monday morning (September 23) when the Met Office issued a serious amber weather warning for rain in Oxfordshire.
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Senior partner Dr Duncan Becker said: "Obviously our building is very old and we’ve got a cottage next door that is several hundred years old.
"Water came in through the side of our building and flooded down the wall, took a ceiling out and into our fire alarm box which means our fire system does not work.
"Unless you’ve got a working fire alarm system you can’t have staff and patients in the building."
The surgery was closed on Monday with the practice putting in place alternative arrangements.
Dr Becker said: "For emergencies we are asking people to phone 111 and that’s been sanctioned by the ICB and we’ll hopefully get things and moving in the next day or two."
In July the GPs sent a desperate letter to all patients, local town and district councils, and the Bucks, Oxon and West Berkshire Integrated Care Board - the NHS body responsible for commissioning services - stressing the urgent need for larger premises.
They said the number of patients was already 'unsustainable' and the 500 to 1,000 new homes in the planning process meant it may be forced to close its patient list, leaving many residents without local healthcare services.
Dr Becker said he "would like to think" the roof collapsing would make the case for a new site more urgent "but we will see, we’ve been looking for at least 25 years".
Last week members of Bicester and Woodstock Labour party gathered outside the old police station during a public consultation by developers McCarthy Stone, calling for it not to be used for housing.
Veronica Oakeshott, vice chair of campaigns, said: “We need to prioritise finding a site for the surgery.
"The old police station could be that site and has the advantage of being available now."
Blenheim, which is the landowner, has allocated space in their upcoming plans for their Banbury Road site but that is only scheduled for development after it has completed an 180-home development on Hill Rise.
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Ms Oakeshott said: "We must not let that option disappear before we’ve got a clear plan. If it’s to be another site – Banbury Road or elsewhere - we want a timetable for progress.”
Woodstock resident Nick Mellis, said: “As a disabled person, I can’t even get into the health centre and if I manage to get in there, I’m knocking books off shelves, bumping into doors.
"It’s a disaster. It’s not really a health centre. In fact if I go in, I feel more ill coming out than when I go in there.”
In a statement Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board (BOB ICB) said: “We would like to thank the GPs, and all practice staff at Woodstock Surgery for their hard work and dedication during the difficult weather conditions this week which forced the closure of the practice.
"Patient care remained their priority which deserves our recognition and praise.
"We are supporting the practice to ensure services get back to normal.”
The Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board (BOB ICB) was contacted.
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