£1.5m surgery plan for Baslow
A £1.5 MILLION doctors' surgery is being planned for a Peak District village, with bosses hoping it will transform health care in the area.
Baslow villagers were invited to an open day at St Anne's Church Room on Tuesday to view draft designs for the new practice, which would replace Ashenfell Surgery.
Practice manager Helen Watts said: "This is a really exciting opportunity to bring new and improved services to the local community.
"It would be a much better, bigger surgery than our current building, which we have outgrown really."
She added: "This high-performing practice is also well on the way to become a training practice and the new building will provide essential educational facilities."
The existing surgery is cramped, with a six-person nursing team working in one room and doctors and nurses having to rotate rooms.
Mrs Watts said: "At the moment we're thinking the new building will be a mixture between NHS and private health care.
"So far the reaction has been very positive, but we want to consult with the public and after that it will need to go to planning."
The two-storey building – earmarked for land near sport pitches on the A619 opposite the current building – would feature a waiting area, reception, dispensary, examination rooms, offices and 39 parking spaces. Rooms would be allocated for minor surgery and specialist services such as counselling and midwifery.
But the practice said it would not, at this stage in the process, comment on where funding for the project would come from.
Nicola Longson, Derbyshire County Primary Care Trust projects manager, said: "The former High Peak and Dales PCT approved the project to relocate the GP surgery in Baslow some years ago.
"If plans to relocate the surgery are approved, Derbyshire County PCT is committed to increasing the amount of money it provides the surgery for rent.
"This amount will be dependent on the size of the premises, which are subject to planning approval. However, the PCT will not be providing any capital investment."
Baslow Parish Council has yet to fully discuss the plan.
But Cllr Malcolm Roper said: "Generally most people are pretty pleased with the idea as the existing surgery is not very big. There are one or two issues some people have with the planning side of things, but we'll just need to find out more before we come to a view on that."
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Weather for Bakewell
Saturday 04 February 2012
Today
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Temperature: -3 C to 0 C
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