Green light for Denia’s new GP surgery
Plans signed off for practice promised by Ribera Salud
PATIENTS in Denia are set to get their promised new health centre now that the plans have been signed off, and extra services will be added to the existing GP surgery and La Pedrera longterm care hospital.
Once open, the new clinic will include 13 consultation and nursing rooms, a bloodtest station, offices, meeting rooms and store rooms – all within a building of just over 1,500 square metres.
Seven general practitioners and two paediatricians will be based at the planned surgery, whilst the existing Joan Fuster practice and La Pedrera will have a total of 16 GPs and three children's doctors.
Between the three health centres, Denia residents will have access to a number of specialist areas without having to wait for a referral to see a hospital consultant.
These include ophthalmology, gynaecology, dermatology, rheumatology, odontology, physiotherapy, and an ear, nose and throat clinic.
Family planning – which also covers non-specialist gynaecology services – an acquired brain damage rehabilitation unit, and a children's and teenagers' mental health unit are also set to be covered locally.
Services redistribution
An emergency walk-in clinic at the new practice – 200 square metres with rest areas and nurses' stations – will 'centralise' A&E services
as part of a 'major reorganisation' on the cards.
This restructure is aimed at freeing up capacity at La Pedrera and Joan Fuster for other areas of medicine, says area health department managing director Dr Javier Palau.
He says the planned expansion of Denia's primary healthcare facilities will mean temporary summer surgeries opening to cater for tourists in peak season will not have to compromise year-round residents' access to medical assistance.
Last summer, GPs and nurses based at the town's main surgeries were transferred to the pop-up practices on the beach for three months, reducing availability of care at the permanent clinics and forcing staff to spread themselves more thinly.
Denia's privatised area health department is managed by the company Marina Salud – wholly owned by Ribera Salud – and has been under contract to build a second GP practice for the town since the concession began in early 2009. The franchise is set to expire on January 31, 2024 when the district health service will be de-privatised and run by the regional health department.
Dr Palau added: “With this new project, the Ribera health group is moving forward with the plan announced last summer to construct the new health centre in Denia.”
He noted that they are serving a population of around 39,000 residents in the municipality.