Surgery committed to city centre

2:36pm Wednesday 20th August 2008

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SIR - In respect of Winchester City Council's proposed redevelopment of the Silver Hill area, and following last week's article detailing plans for the relocation of the Friarsgate Practice, the doctors at St Clement's Surgery would like to take this opportunity to reassure their own patients about the future plans for St Clement's Surgery.

We hope to publish, very shortly, details of the purpose-designed new city centre practice premises, which we hope to have completed by late 2009, and are in advanced negotiations with the council's developers, architects and the Pulmonary Care Trust, to this end.

St Clement's Partnership has recently been joined by several new doctors and we have expanded the range of services we provide to patients.

We have restated our desire to continue to practice from city centre premises for patients' easy access, especially those reliant on public transport.

We have been involved in challenging negotiations over the past 10 years to bring this about, and to ensure that the demolition of the practice-owned premises did not result in our removal out of the city centre.

The new stand-alone premises will include easy access for all patients, and not more than one bus ride for patients living on the city periphery who use public transport.

We will have a ground floor suite of consulting rooms, facilitating access for patients with impaired mobility and for young families.

We have recently extended our opening hours, which now include two early mornings (7.30am), Thursday evenings (to 7.45pm) and Saturday morning clinics.

St. Clement's has been proactive in providing services for the convenience of its patients which have previously been delivered in hospitals, including Minor Surgery, Vasectomy and our current Men's Health Clinic. These will be extended with the benefit of our planned modern Minor Surgery Suite.

The surgery will also accommodate a pharmacy and we are in negotiations to include dentistry, podiatry and other services for ease of patient access.

We would also like to confirm that our practice area continues to extend to a five mile radius of the city centre, and that our existing patients on the periphery should continue their registration with their existing doctor. Our books currently remain open for patient registrations.

K E Roberts (Senior Partner, St Clement's Surgery), Tanner Street, Winchester.