Expanding GP surgery’s exclusion bid
Change to boundaries would avoid accommodating 6,000 new homes
A SURGERY in Wickham is requesting its boundaries be redrawn so it will not accommodate residents from the 6,000-home Welborne garden village development.
It comes as the surgery in Houghton Way plans to create an additional 14 GP consulting rooms in existing buildings.
The plans originally suggested these rooms would accommodate Welborne’s first residents – raising concerns from developer Buckland Ltd and Fareham Borough Council, both of which have insisted that healthcare provision will be available for residents on site.
Now the surgery has released a statement online and through an updated planning document to address ‘misconceptions’, according to practice manager Ed Kennedy.
He said: ‘I think the reality is that we want to ensure that no patients are without health care.
‘As our patient numbers have crept up and with our growth in Wickham, we think that we need to expand.
‘In order to give safe and adequate care to those who live here, we really don’t want patients coming from Welborne.’
The surgery will submit an application to have its boundary changed to exclude the site of more than 6,000 proposed homes, according to a spokesman from West Hampshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).
He said ‘On receipt, West Hampshire CCG will consider the application in line with national guidance published by NHS England and in liaison with Fareham and Gosport and South East Hampshire CCG.’
CCGs – which commission doctors’ surgeries and other healthcare provisions for their area – cannot have their boundary changes vetoed by neighbouring commissioning groups, but they must take into account how a boundary change could impact other surgeries and providers.
The plans for Wickham Surgery have raised concerns beyond provisions for Welborne, with Winchester City council receiving objections from The Wickham Society, the Wickham Community Land Trust, and more than a dozen residents, raising concerns about increased congestion and inadequate parking.
Buckland intends to have rooms at the Welborne district centre made available for consultations and health appointments – but first the development needs to find £50m for a vital motorway expansion project, with councils leaders pleading for funding from Boris Johnson.
The reality is that we want to ensure that no patients are without health care. Ed Kennedy
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