New GP surgery for West End after £11.42m funding boost

Published on Monday 19 January 2009 09:07

A NEW GP surgery in the West End of the Capital will open in 2011 following an £11.42 million cash injection for NHS Lothian.

The funding from the Scottish Government is part of 82m which has been allocated to health boards across the country for new primary and community care capital projects.

One of the major projects in the Lothian area includes a modern 3 million GP surgery in the West End which will house state-of-the-art facilities, including eight GP consulting rooms, one GP training consulting room, one nurse consulting room and two treatment rooms.

The new, larger surgery will be situated close to the current West End Surgery on Chester Street, although the exact location has not yet been confirmed.

The surgery on Chester Street will remain open until the new surgery is up and running, with NHS Lothian underlining that there will be "no disruption" to patients.

A spokeswoman added: "The new GP surgery will have all the latest healthcare facilities and the new location will be very close to the current surgery."

Building work will start in 2010 with the new surgery opening in the summer of 2011.

New dental facilities are also a top priority in NHS Lothian's plans for spending the allocated cash, with 6.22m to provide grants to independent general dental practitioners looking to relocate in order to meet the latest hygiene and access standards.

The news comes just over a year after dentists warned that practices could be forced out of business by the new guidelines – due to come into force this year – which require them to set aside up to four rooms as decontamination units at their surgeries.

The measures for sterilising instruments are to improve patient safety but dentists have warned that many practices do not have enough space to meet the demands – and could opt to close.

Meanwhile Gullane Surgery in East Lothian will also be replaced as part of the funding, at a cost of 2m, providing five consulting rooms, one GP trainee consulting room and two treatment rooms.

Charles Winstanley, chairman of NHS Lothian, said: "We're delighted about this additional funding to improve local services for people across Lothian by providing two new healthcare facilities and expanding dental services

."

Health Secretary, Nicola Sturgeon, added: "People in Lothian can now look forward to new and improved dental and other health facilities thanks to our massive and unprecedented cash injection.

"I expect these new proposals from NHS Boards to further enhance dental access right across Scotland, as we strive to give Scots a dental service to be proud of."