Plans for GP surgery unveiled after 17-year wait

3 hours ago

Tony FisherBedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire

News image — The new health centre will have a minimum of eight clinical rooms and is due to open in 2029

Urban&Civic Artists' impression of a new doctor's surgery called Wixams Medical Centre. It has several windows; has two floors and is light brown on lower floor and and dark brown in colour on the upper floor. There are people walking and sitting on benches outside. — The new health centre will have a minimum of eight clinical rooms and is due to open in 2029

Plans for a new GP surgery have been revealed in a town development which has been without one for 17 years.

Urban&Civic, the master developer behind Wixams near Bedford, has submitted plans to Bedford Borough Council and Central Bedfordshire Council.

In April the NHS secured £7m in capital funding for the health centre which will serve 15,000 patients.

Nigel Hugill, Chief Executive at Urban&Civic, said that all parties were "now striving for a 2029 opening".

Wixams opened in 2009 and has 3,000 homes.

Currently, half of the residents have to make a 14-mile round trip to Ampthill to see a doctor.

Urban&Civic An artist's impression shows a modern two-storey medical centre with a pitched roof and bronze-toned cladding at the centre of a landscaped courtyard. It is flanked by lower brick buildings, with benches and paved walkways in the foreground. Several people are seated or walking through the outdoor space, which is surrounded by grass, shrubs, and young trees under a cloudy sky. — The plans also include a nursery and a community building

The new health centre will have a minimum of eight clinical rooms and will be built by Urban&Civic and owned by Bedford Borough Council.

It forms part of wider proposals for a new town centre for Wixams, which have also now been submitted following a period of consultation.

These include a nursery and community building as well as a 36,000 sq ft supermarket, shopping and retail spaces and a public square along with car parking spaces.

Martin Towler, Portfolio Holder for Neighbourhoods and Communities: Health and Wellbeing at Bedford Borough Council, said: "A new GP surgery will make a real difference to families across the community, reducing travel times and ensuring people can access the care they need close to home."

Jan Thomas, Chief Executive Officer of Central East ICB, said she was "delighted that just weeks after securing funds for the health centre from NHS England, the application for outline planning consent is already being submitted".

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