Whitchurch Road Surgery officially opens its doors to patients at new state of the art medical centre

Whitchurch Road Surgery’s brand-new state of the art medical centre has opened its doors to patients, less than 200 metres from its previous site. The new building, which officially opened last night and has been funded by Welsh Government, has introduced additional consulting rooms and capacity, dedicated treatment areas, including space for minor surgery, a spacious and comfortable reception and an on-site pharmacy.

Having operated for years from a three-storey converted terraced house on the bustling Whitchurch Road, the practice’s new premises has been built upon the former Allotments Site Sachville Avenue.

Supporting the practice to deliver primary care services for the community, the new building will give the practice team the modern space it needs to expand the range of services it is able to provide to its registered patients.

Dr Gareth Lloyd, Senior Partner, Whitchurch Road Surgery, said: “This is a major step for our patients and staff and will enable us to deliver primary care services in a building that is suitable to meet the demand capacity required. The new premises also allow us to extend our training capacity to support training of future doctors, something that the surgery has always supported as an established training practice. Both staff and patients are already benefiting from the new environment, and we have already received extremely positive feedback from patients who have attended the new practice.”

The development has been possible as a result of months of work between Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, Whitchurch Road Surgery and Assura plc as the appointed specialist third party developer and the local Allotments Association – Flaxland Avenue Allotments Society.

The new development will support Welsh Government’s strategy to strengthen and expand the availability of local primary, community and intermediate care services closer to home and out of the hospital, a theme echoed in the Health Board’s Shaping our Future Wellbeing 10-year strategy.

Dr Anna Kuczynska, Clinical Board Director for Primary, Community and Intermediate Care at Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, said: “It is great to see the Whitchurch Road Surgery welcoming patients to its new, and more accessible, practice. The team has delivered excellent care to patients and this new practice will only continue to build upon the services provided to the community with facilities that are fit for the future of Primary Care in Cardiff.”

As part of the scheme, Assura – the healthcare premises specialist leading the project – is also completing work to convert nearby contaminated allotment land into 40 new allotments, which will greatly increase the growing and gardening space available to the local community.

John Deering from Flaxland Avenue Allotments Society said: “'We are very happy to be associated with this development, as it will provide excellent health facilities for the community and the remediated land will result in a significant net increase in the number of allotment plots that can be let to local residents.”

Andrew Cooper, Assura Development Director, said: “We are absolutely delighted to see this project reach completion and see the surgery begin to welcome patients to their new GP practice. This project was made even more special by the fact that we were not only creating more physical space for the delivery of care, but also outdoor space for health through gardening and growing.”

The new medical centre was built by J Projects and is now open for patients.