Patients of a Hebburn GP practice are being informed of a proposed relocation due to long-term building works.
Ellison View Surgery, which is located within Hebburn Health Centre on Campbell Park Road, will be moved to The Glen Health Centre under the proposals announced on Friday.
The move will affect 6,300 patients registered with Ellison View and is due to health and safety issues caused by the ongoing building works surrounding the building.
South Tyneside Clinical Commissioning Group said: “The building is owned by NHS Property Services who provide facilities management and property services within the building.
“In 2020, South Tyneside Council successfully negotiated the sale of the land surrounding the health centre for housing development, the contractor being Keepmoat. Building commenced in late 2020 and is scheduled to take two years to complete.
“The building and construction work completely surrounds the health centre and has necessitated the closure of an access road and car parking facilities. These have been temporarily re-provided some distance away from the buildings entrance.
“The re-provided access and car parking facilities are extremely basic and have significant safety issues and risks for patients and staff, including very poor lighting and footpath/road surface.
“Because of the long-term significant disruption to the practice, patient safety issues and the potential increase in patient activity generated by the housing development, they have requested to relocate their surgery on a permanent basis to The Glen.”
A formal application process for the relocation has been commenced and the practice is contacting its patients to inform them of this intention to move and let them know how they can share their views.
Patients can do this by:
- Completing a survey enclosed with the letter they will receive (with a pre-paid envelope)
- By asking for a 10 minute, one to one virtual appointment
- Contacting the practice to ask about the relocation, either by phone, email or the website.
Once the public engagement work has been completed, along with the other requisite elements of the application, a recommendation will be made to South Tyneside CCG Primary Care Commissioning Committee for consideration.
