Chard no closer to getting new medical centre as existing GPs relocate

The town currently has two NHS doctors’ surgeries, which are both run by Ariel Healthcare – one on Essex House on the A30 Fore Street in the town centre, and one on St Mary’s Crescent in the south-west of the town.

Practice staff announced on Saturday (August 10) that they would need to move out of Essex House to allow for extensive building work, moving into the former Springmead Surgery on Summerlands Road, which closed in February 2023.

The NHS Somerset integrated care board (ICB) has said it will support staff and patients during this temporary move – but also revealed it was no closer to pinning down a site where a new doctors’ surgery could be delivered to handle future housing growth.

The Essex House site was one of 14 GP surgeries which Somerset health bosses identified in September 2020 would need to either expand or relocate in light of local housing growth.

The front entrance and reception area of the surgery have been closed since early-June for “urgent unavoidable building work”, with patients having to use the rear entrance to attend appointments – and those wishing to book appointments in person (rather than online or via phone) having to visit the St Mary’s site.

In a statement published on its official Facebook page on Saturday (August 10), Ariel Healthcare stated that the work was going to take longer than anticipated and would require all services to be relocated to the former Springmead site.

The Essex House surgery in Fore Street, which is also run by Ariel Healthcare. (Image: Daniel Mumby)

A spokesman said: “Unfortunately the extent of the issues with the building mean that the remedial work is going to take time to complete and will require the practice to be vacant while it is undertaken.

“As a result of this, we have been liaising with the owners of the previous Springmead Surgery building and are pleased to say that we will be relocating our Fore Street site in the coming months.

“While the Springmead building does not offer more space, the move is a necessary step to stabilise our current premises issues.

“It is also important to note we are continuing to work to establish a new practice that is fit for purpose for the developing locality.

“We have been working with NHS Somerset and Somerset Council in recent years and are hopeful that there will soon be some resolution to create a sustainable long-term primary care solution for Chard.

“Although you will see a hive of activity as we prepare to move into what will be known as our Summerfields Road site, please do not attend this site for your healthcare needs.

“All appointments, queries and prescription requests will continue to be offered at our current St Mary’s and Fore Street sites until further notice.”

The ICB said it was supportive of this move, but that there would be no permanent relocation of services to the Springmead site – or plans to reopen this site permanently to provide additional capacity.

A spokesman said: “We are supporting the practice as they deal with the building problems at their Fore Street site. The practice will continue to provide a comprehensive service despite the temporary change.

“The former Springmead Surgery building is privately owned (i.e. it is not owned by the NHS).

“Ariel Healthcare would not be prepared to operate from a building which did not meet NHS standards for safety and we would not allow that either.

“Ariel Healthcare will be using the Summerfields Road site as a temporary measure due to the problems at their Fore Street building.

“This is separate from longer term plans to ensure that patients in Chard benefit from modern, high quality primary care premises.”

The delivery of new doctors’ surgeries are primarily paid for by contributions from housing developments, with developers committing to providing funding towards a given building through a Section 106 agreement.

Contributions from different developments in a given town or locality are typically held by the NHS Somerset ICB until they are needed, with developers often setting aside land within a new housing estate to provide this facility (as is currently proposed within a new development in Bruton).

A new medical centre is anticipated as being needed in the coming years to handle patients from the new homes within the Chard eastern development area (CEDA) – with 200 homes almost completed within the Snowdon Grange site on the B3162 Forton Road, and two other sizeable sites in the pipeline along the A358 Tatworth Road.

The ICB said it was no closer to nailing down the site of a new surgery, and declined to say how much funding was either needed or already secured to deliver such a facility.

A spokesman said: “We are working closely with the practice, Somerset Council, and other partners to develop plans for modern, high-quality primary care premises.

“At this stage, a number of sites and schemes are being discussed but no decision has been made.

“When a scheme is finally developed and agreed, the funding arrangements will form part of that.

“We continue to assess local housing development plans and review the potential impact of these on primary medical infrastructure capacity, and where appropriate submit applications for Section 106 funding to support future surgery development programmes.”