CONSTRUCTION of Westbury’s new health centre in Leigh Park has begun. Completion of the £5.7million facility is planned for August 2012.
Westbury Group Practice had hoped to start building work in July, but a last minute objection to the redirection of a footpath meant a new planning application had to be approved before construction could begin.
Bill Fanning, steering group chair said, “It has taken over four years to reach this stage of the project and I must commend the belief and determination to succeed of all those involved. Although the delays encountered along the way were unwelcome, the irony is that a number of new services were able to be incorporated in our plans at a late stage in the process”
Both Eastleigh Surgery and the White Horse Surgery will move to the new medical centre when it opens.
Dr Debbie Beale from Eastleigh Surgery said, “We are delighted to see the construction that has taken place so far and we look forward to moving into our state-of-the-art building next year. We are very grateful for the support of the steering group, the town council and our patients who have been very understanding as we struggled with the obstacles experienced along the way.’’
Project manager Stewart Spearman commented, “Dawnus Construction is delighted to have secured the contract from Westbury Primary Care Development to construct the new state-of-the-art medical facility at Westbury. We look forward to working closely with the group practice, PCT, community and local steering group to bring their ideas and vision to reality in providing a modern multi-operational long-awaited facility for the residents of Westbury.”
New services for the town
In addition to current services offered by Eastleigh Surgery and the White Horse Surgery there will be a number of new services, which include: consultant outpatient clinics; a minor surgery facility; 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 test; 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 dental surgery, which will extend to two dentists on site, providing NHS and private dental services; and a pharmacy, open for 100 hours each week.
The new building will be approximately 2635 square metres in floor area and will include around 100 parking spaces for patients. The site is within walking and cycling distance of many homes in the area and there will be a bus stop situated adjacent to the site.
Westbury Primary Care Development is a GP funded development, with no NHS capital invested in the scheme. This means that the funding for the new building will be raised by the GPs, who will lease part of the space at the new facility to NHS Wiltshire, so that additional NHS services, such as the neighbourhood team can be provided from the site.
Start of construction rewards of years of planning
In 2007 a steering group for a new primary care facility in Westbury was formed, which included PCT staff, the Westbury Group Practice, and local residents. Bill Fanning, steering group chair, looks back on the work from conception to construction.
“Work started on the new facility on 12th September and I thought it would be a good time to look back at how we arrived at this point,” he said.
“By the end of 2006 the Westbury Community Hospital had been closed officially; although a few services remained on the site and would be in situ for some time.
“Initially it appeared that Westbury would have no part to play in the plans to “Reform Community Services in Wiltshire”. However, following a presentation by Eastleigh Surgery, the Wiltshire Primary Care Trust (PCT) board meeting on 30th January 2007 endorsed the plan which envisaged that Westbury GPs would be supported to develop a new primary care facility.
“The PCT also recommended that a steering group should be established and the first formal meeting was held in May 2007. The members of the committee included PCT staff, the Westbury Group Practice, and local residents drawn from various voluntary groups (all five of the residents had been active members of the campaign to save the hospital and are still with the steering group today).
“The group looked carefully at the potential to use the existing hospital site, but realised by October 2007 that this would not be possible.
“The search for a new site continued into 2008 and when the outline business plan was submitted to the PCT board, the favoured option was “development of the garage site next door to Eastleigh Surgery”. Almost as soon as the recommendation was endorsed, the garage site owner accepted an offer from another buyer.
“By October 2008, surgery staff, working with specialist independent consultants had identified its preferred location – now common knowledge that it is in Leigh Park. However, made wary by past disappointments this information was kept under wraps for many months while negotiations continued. The credit crunch, the pressure on NHS budgets and then the change of Government meant that progress was painfully slow.
“During June 2010, public consultations, including those with Westbury Town Council, the Wiltshire Area Board and a town centre open day were undertaken.
“Wiltshire Council gave planning permission for the new facility in November 2010 but some conditions were attached. It took time for the plans to be amended to meet those conditions but an unexpected delay arose when the planned re-routing of a pathway was challenged by a member of the public.
“It was August 2011 when we got full planning permission to go ahead and we can look forward to the facility being operational in the autumn next year.
“Recent letters in the White Horse News have posed questions about the funding of the new facility and about the fate of the Westbury Hospital site. In the case of the former the new facility will be owned by the Westbury Group Practice partners and the main income stream will be derived from services commissioned by the NHS. The hospital site is owned by the NHS and, like all public bodies, is bound by rules and regulations regarding disposal. After the site is vacated those procedures will be followed and the site will be sold.
“The Steering Group will continue to operate with the emphasis being on communication. As before, it will be involved with the Town Council, the Area Board, the BA13 Partnership and other voluntary groups including LINK. We will also be co-opting a representative from the firm building the facility and will invite other interested parties/ community leaders to meetings as the occasion demands.”
