The planning application for a new primary care development in Westbury has been submitted to Wiltshire Council.
The development, which will be located at Leigh Park, will include an extended modern GP surgery which combines the Eastleigh Surgery and the White Horse Surgery with a range of other health care services, all under one roof. Plans for its development have evolved through the work of a steering group with members drawn from the Westbury Group Practice, Patients’ Forum, League of Friends, Westbury Town Council and NHS Wiltshire.
The building will be a modern, purpose-built centre with space and facilities to serve Westbury’s people properly.
Dr Debbie Beale, a GP at Eastleigh Surgery said, “The application submission marks the result of lots of hard work and commitment from everyone who is involved in our project. We look forward to receiving comments from Westbury people, who can find out more by visiting our surgery in Station Road or by linking to the Wiltshire Council website to have a look.”
Bill Fanning, chairman of the Westbury Patients’ Forum, added, “We recognise from previous meetings that people are very supportive of the development but had a few concerns about transport, and we’ve been working hard with Wiltshire Council and voluntary services to resolve these details.”
On Monday evening the town council’s Highways, Planning and Development committee met to discuss the application.
Plans can be viewed and comments lodged on the Wiltshire Council website. The planning reference number is W/10/02170/FUL. It is likely that the application will be considered by the council’s Western Area Planning Committee in September or October.
The Primary Care Development will accommodate all the services that are currently provided from Eastleigh and White Horse Surgery, and in addition to this, there will be a number of new services available that Westbury people currently have to travel to other towns to access. The services available will be:-
• Eight GPs from the existing surgeries (so people will continue to see their family doctor), plus a GP in training
• Nurse practitioners, who are able to see, treat and prescribe for patients
• Nurses, providing a wide range of services from family planning to asthma care
• Consultant outpatient clinics
• A minor surgery suite, which will be used by staff and visiting secondary care consultants
• The Westbury and Warminster Neighbourhood Teams (who provide community healthcare to patients in their own homes)
• A mobile diagnostics centre, for screening services and diagnostic tests, community midwives, providing antenatal and postnatal care
• Health visitors
• Outpatient X-ray facilities for patients under the care of specialists at Salisbury District Hospital
• A stand-by point for the ambulance service
• A dental surgery, which will extend to three dentists on site, providing NHS and private dental services
• Primary care counselling services
• Lifestyle management services, including diet, exercise advice and smoking cessation support
• The practice is in negotiation with a pharmacy provider
The building will be approximately 2635 square metres in floor area, compared to the existing Eastleigh Surgery which is about 740 square metres and the White Horse Surgery that occupies about 90 square metres.
Dr Beale said, “We hope that the primary care development will be open in 2012 but until then, all the existing services will remain as they are until we are ready to move into the new building.”
