Yarmouth Surgery – planning application submitted for change of use
The site is owned by a group of landlords who had indicated they would like to sell the building. A planning application has been put in to Isle of Wight Council to convert the building for residential use.
The landlords have been in regular dialogue with us about these changes and overall we do not object to the proposal, as we will still be able to see and treat you at our main site in Brookside Health Centre, Queens Road, Freshwater.
Brookside Health Centre has recently been updated so it now includes additional GP and healthcare assistant consultation rooms, which has increased capacity to see people.
Patients who regularly use the services with West Wight Medical Practice will already be aware the branch site in Yarmouth would, at times, close in order for staff to provide safer and more resilient support at Brookside Health Centre in Freshwater.
The Yarmouth building is a small former residential property with a narrow entrance and hallway and it is not possible to keep patients safely distanced under Covid-19 guidelines. This is why the correct decision was made to temporarily close the Yarmouth Surgery site in March this year at the start of lockdown.
This allowed the practice to provide a clinically-safe and resilient service in Brookside Health Centre in Freshwater. By having a greater pool of GPs, clinical staff and admin staff at one site meant the surgery was able to continue providing services throughout the pandemic.
No one has been required to re-register elsewhere as Brookside surgery is the practice patients are registered within and the Yarmouth surgery was a branch surgery rather than having a separate list of registered patients. Brookside Health Centre has adapted to accommodate additional appointments and ensure the Infection Prevention measures both provide the capacity and appropriate safe distancing to see their patient list.
Although the Yarmouth branch closure will be a loss of convenience for some patients, overall the service at Brookside will be far more robust.
There are no planned job losses and the practice will continue to have three permanent GPs, three advanced nurse practitioners, a nurse consultant, pharmacist, four healthcare assistants, eight practice nurses, and a musculoskeletal practitioner. There are plans to increase the team with additional roles through the practice’s Primary Care Network as we go forwards.
The branch surgery will remain closed as we continue to respond and see patients safely and with the required safe distance and infection protection measures at Brookside Health Centre.
We have included an FAQ document with this information.
We will of course keep you informed of updates, but if you have any questions/comments then please do call 01983 758998 or email iwccg.BrooksideHC@nhs.net.
Many thanks
Clive Oliver
Managing Director
Wight Primary Partnerships Ltd
Brookside Health Centre
