Support but no funds for new GP surgery in Elstead

A new GP surgery in Elstead could be on the cards but money is needed to fund it.

More than 100 people packed Elstead Village Hall recently for a meeting at which they heard that that the parish council hopes to use land at Sunray Farm for a new surgery as the current one, Springfield, is not large enough for current needs.

However, there is no immediate funding available for the scheme, Elstead Parish Council has said.

Dr Sarah Hargrave, a partner at Springfield Surgery, told the meeting: “a new building would bring enormous benefits to patients and to the wider community…. It would also give the staff and clinicians the room they need to work effectively, to support you all the best way they can ….. It would create a setting that is fit for modern general practice, now and in the future.”

Parish council chair Cllr Jane Jacobs said Sunray Farm was chosen because it had been approved for development in the Elstead and Weyburn Neighbourhood Plan, which had allocated 0.25 hectares of non-residential development space at the farm. This was to have been for a co-working hub, but changes in work practices and a need to provide a larger surgery had changed the council’s plans.

The parish council has held regular meetings with Springfield’s owners, partners and patients as well as with the NHS and Waverley Borough Council about a new surgery building.

However, neither the NHS nor Waverley could fund the capital cost because, Cllr Jacobs said, their funding rules can take into account only future growth rather than pre-existing problems.

The NHS is also involved with plans for proposals for a new medical centre in Milford but Cllr Jacobs pointed out that there is no direct public transport link between Elstead and Milford, making it hard for residents without a car to access this. She said this further emphasised “the need for the provision of medical facilities in Elstead and not just for Elstead”.

The meeting heard that, despite the funding restrictions, both the NHS and Waverley want to support a new surgery in Elstead if the money can be raised elsewhere. For instance, Waverley can offer its expertise following its involvement in building the new Central Surgery in Farnham.

The parish council has agreed that all its share of the neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy could be used for the surgery though this might cover only part of the work needed.

Other ways of funding it include specialist surgery-builders leasing the site and financing it from their own resources, Sunray Farm’s developers building the surgery and leasing it to the doctors, and EPC borrowing money, though this is not a preferred option. Another option is for individuals to help pay for the building.

Cllr Jacobs concluded: “If, as we believe to be the case, the community is keen to safeguard a surgery in Elstead going forward, Elstead Parish Council is committed to working with all relevant stakeholders to make that happen”.

A show of hands indicated unanimous support for the council’s strategy.