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The long–awaited new surgery for Chew Medical Practice will open for business on Monday 27th February 2012, when the vision will finally become reality.
From 27th February 2012 our address will be:
Chew Medical Practice
Chew Lane, Chew Stoke, Bristol, BS40 8UE.
Telephone and Fax numbers will not be changing.
The surgery is located on the corner of Chew Lane and Dairy Way in Chew Stoke. Vehicle access is from the entrance in Dairy way.
Kate Davenport (Practice Manager), Dr T Sephton, Dr EW Morris
Patients are already commenting on the attractive cedar-wood cladding on the outside of the building, while staff and doctors who have been able to go inside are thrilled by the amount of space. Visitors will be welcomed into a bright and airy waiting area, lit by an impressive skylight and about twice the size of the current waiting room. There will be handy toilets and a new system for doctors to call patients. The clinical spaces have been designed with hygiene and patient comfort as priorities. The nurses’ rooms will be much bigger, with carefully thought-out storage and easy access to all the facilities that the nurses need. There will be ten doctors’ consulting rooms compared with the current six, making it much easier to bring in visiting specialists. There will be dedicated rooms for the treatment of leg and foot problems and for counselling and advice services.
As now, prescriptions will be dispensed on site. Patients will be able to go into the dispensary to collect repeat medication or to wait for drugs prescribed on the day. It will feel similar to visiting a pharmacy, with a proper shop counter, and prescriptions will be handed out by experienced and knowledgeable dispensary staff. This will separate prescription enquiries from the main reception desk, and should greatly improve the whole experience of visiting the surgery.
Help with repeat prescriptions for Chew Magna patients
When Chew Medical Practice moves to Chew Stoke in February, Chew Magna patients who do not pay prescription charges will be able to choose to pick up their medication from Pearces, the butchers, in Chew Magna High Street. The surgery will drop deliveries off there twice a week, and patients will be told when to expect their prescription.
Let us know if you would like to use this service.
Alternatively, if you find it difficult to get out of the house, or are not available during normal shop hours, the surgery will deliver prescriptions directly to your home, as long as you don’t pay for your prescriptions and need regular deliveries.
If you live in Chew Magna and would like to be added to the list from February, just ask at Reception for a consent form.
Work Starts on New Surgery at Chew Stoke
Construction of the new surgery at Chew Stoke for Chew Medical Practice is now underway- contractors Vinci Construction Ltd started on site on Tuesday May 3 2011. The new building should be ready for the surgery to move in during March 2012.
The Turf Cutting Ceremony at the new site
From Left to Right. Gillie Slater - Chew Stoke Parish Council. Paul Blake - Vinci Construction Ltd, Site Manager. Dr. Sandra Fenn & Dr. Timothy Septhon - Chew Medical Practice Partners. Tim Scruton - GVA, Project Manager. Kate Davenport Chew Medical Practice, Practice Manager.
The move to the new surgery is expected to make a tremendous difference to the experience for patients visiting the surgery. In the current building, patients and staff alike are frustrated by the lack of space, the cramped waiting room and the queues out into the High Street. The new surgery will be bright, spacious and fresh, with the kind of facilities that patients would expect in a top quality health care service.
Apart from being a much more pleasant environment, the extra space will enable GPs and nurses to carry out more minor operations on site, without the need to refer patients elsewhere. There will be a proper recovery room for patients, separate from the treatment rooms. There will also be space for other therapists to work in the building, making the new surgery more of a one stop shop for treatment.
Local residents can also look forward to an extended programme of health and wellbeing courses and clinics at various times of the day and evening, to suit the needs of different groups of patients. The Practice already runs clinics for travel and for people who want to stop smoking, and have recently introduced spirometry tests to check how well the lungs are functioning.
Malcolm Hanney, Chair of NHS Bath & North East Somerset (the Primary Care Trust), commented, “It will be marvellous to be able to offer Chew Valley residents access to state of the art medical facilities in a stimulating environment appropriate for 21st century primary care. We have waited a long time for the new premises, and the move comes at a positive turning point for primary care provision.”
Gillie Slater, a Chew Stoke resident and Chair of Chew Stoke Parish Council, is also welcoming the new surgery enthusiastically. “There are few amenities in Chew Stoke, and the arrival of the surgery is very important for our community,” she says. “We are all looking forward very much to having access to a wide range of health services in purpose-built new premises.”
The lower floor of the building will provide a new home for Magna Minors, who will be moving their nursery for babies and toddlers in. There will also be a new home for the local District Nursing Team, and a small private gym.
Local people will have an opportunity to find out more about the new surgery, the performance of the Practice, and the range of services available, at a public meeting to be held at St Andrews Church Hall,Silver Street, Chew Magna on Tuesday 24th May at 7:30pm. The meeting will also launch a new patient reference group, a smaller group of people who are willing to meet with the Practice Manager and representatives of the clinical team to discuss priorities for the service in more detail, especially in the run-up to the move.
ONE STEP CLOSER - PRACTICE EXCHANGES CONTRACTS WITH CHARLES CHURCH FOR PURCHASE OF THE CHEW STOKE SITE.
The practice is delighted to announce that we are one step closer to a purpose built surgery. The partners have finally exchanged contracts with Charles Church on the purchase of the land at the Chew Stoke Site. This is a significant milestone for the surgery, yet we realise that some of the most difficult challenges still lie ahead. A series of patient participation groups will be scheduled over the coming year to work closely with the community on matters important to them, one of which will undoubtedly be the new surgery.
SURGERY PREMISES AND NEW BUILDING
Plans for the new doctors' surgery on the disused Radford's site at Chew Stoke are at last beginning to take shape.
The surgery has been looking for a new home ever since it became clear that further expansion of the current building in Madam's Paddock was impossible and that problems with space and access had become insurmountable.
Despite a lengthy search over several years for a suitable site nearer the current location, none has become available and it was felt by both planners and doctors that the Radford's site, with its central valley location, offered the best opportunity to provide the high quality premises necessary to deliver the standard of care our patients deserve.
The building will be three times the size of the current surgery and built to satisfy sustainability requirements. There will be more than fifty parking spaces and the entrance will be away from busy roads. It is also intended that the size of the building will enable allied health care providers to work there with us.
It?s an exciting project and we look forward to the support of our patients in this move. We recognise that for some people our relocation away from central Chew Magna may be inconvenient, but we feel confident that we can offer a better service for all of our patients from a modern purpose built health centre of appropriate size to the population that we serve.
Your Views
We are keen to hear your views on the project, and to facilitate this, we have organised a Patient Participation meeting on Tuesday 10th November, starting at 6:30pm, in the Baptist Hall, Chew Magna. You can also email us using the contact us page of the website or write to The Practice Manager, Chew Medical Practice, Madam's Paddock, Chew Magna, Bristol, BS40 8PP.
CHEW MAGNA SURGERY MOVING: QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Question 1: Why do we need to move?
The present surgery is too small and outdated. We have 250 sq m in Chew Magna and our patient numbers would justify 850 sq m. We fall short on all sorts of requirements like parking, wheel chair access, room size, corridor width, waiting room and other clinical aspects like sterile conditions and clean store-rooms. The PCT (Primary Care Trust) has identified us as the single worst practice from this point of view in B&NES.
Question 2: When did we first start looking for a new surgery site?
We have been actively looking since 2001. This has involved a process of consultation with local parishes, the planners, the PCT and various local property developers.
Question 3: Other than Chew Stoke, are there any other sites available?
No. We have looked at numerous sites in Chew Magna and nothing is either available or suitable.
Question 4: What will the benefits be to our patients?
Too numerous to mention!
They will include ease of access, dedicated parking, modern purpose-built surgery, independent access directly to the dispensary, accommodation to extend the primary health care services and scope for further expansion.
Question 5: Will the dispensary move with the surgery?
Yes. With time there may be scope to develop the dispensary into a full pharmacy, but the dispensary will remain attached to the new surgery. We will continue to do prescription deliveries and will extend our arrangements of weekly drop-offs at various collection points.
We would welcome feedback.
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