WITH one GP practice on the temporary move from Wootton to Newport, concerns have already been shared by patients about how they would get there.
Medina Healthcare today revealed to patients, the current Wootton Bridge Medical Centre building on Brannon Way, is ‘sub-standard’ and needs to be knocked down and rebuilt.
Despite the building being only eight years old — completed in 2014 — cracks and movement have been evidenced at the site, which the landlords of the building Assura, have been seeking to remedy with structural engineers.
To accommodate the building works the practice will have to move temporarily and has unveiled plans to occupy the former NatWest Bank on the Riverway Industrial Estate in Newport.
This will mean patients from Wootton will have to travel to Newport, potentially for the next three years, for their doctors appointments.
According to the Care Quality Commission, in 2017, Medina Healthcare had around 9,000 patients.
Following the announcement today, Wootton residents have shared their frustrations on social media over the move.
In the Anything and Everything Wootton Bridge Facebook group, one said: “There is no way as a non-driver that I will be able to get there. There must be somewhere more accessible. I am not happy.”
Another said it was 'a nuisance for travel' with another questioning 'how people without cars are supposed to get there'.
So how can patients get there?
One Southern Vectis bus service — the Number 39 — would get you the closest to the NatWest as it stops near the Royal Mail sorting office or round the corner on Manners View.
The first bus that would reach the new surgery, however, would leave Newport bus station at 10:08am to get you to the doctors by 10:21am.
The last bus of the day would reach the Riverway stop at 2:21pm with only five buses serving the stop over the course of the day.
This means patients travelling to the surgery by the closest and easiest bus route would not be able to have an appointment before 10:20am or after 2:20pm.
Patients could travel by the Number 1 bus but would face a ten-minute walk from either the top of Hunnyhill or outside St Mary’s Hospital through the industrial estate.
The route on foot from the top of Hunnyhill bus stop to the doctors' surgery.
In a FAQ to patients, Medina Healthcare has highlighted the two Southern Vectis services but alternatively says many patients now favour alternative methods of consultation, either online or via the phone, so it may not be to physically visit the surgery.
It is thought the new surgery would take three years to build, depending on the building process, and the move could take place from early to mid 2023.
There will be disabled access at the new Newport site as an external patient lift has been install.
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