Seaford Medical Practice

Updated on Proposed New Seaford Health Hub

The two Practices have now met, through Lewes District Council (LDC) the new architects (ADP) on a few occasions and we have now also met the developers, Kier. We are all continuing to explore options re the new premises, taking into account the huge amount of feedback received at the public consultation events in January and subsequently.

 

Dr Carolyn Turner (Old School Surgery) and Phil Abbott (Seaford Medical Practice) visited a health hub in Kentish Town, London, this week to get some ideas of what might work well. The visit was very helpful.

 

The two Practices are seeking some high level thoughts and ideas from their Patient Participation Groups regarding the layout and features for the new Health Hub and will feed these into the early discussions with the architects and developers.

 

Our latest understanding on timescales is for a further LDC public consultation event in early autumn and LDC looking to go for planning permission later in autumn. The public consultation event will include feedback from transport and traffic flow studies, the proposed building design and layout and will include a number of changes from the initial consultation driven by the public feedback received. The process (incluidng timescales) is being led by LDC.

The following link provides the latest information from Lewes District Council on the proposal:

 

https://www.lewes-eastbourne.gov.uk/regeneration/seaford-health-hub/

 

 

 

One question that has been asked by our patients on a number of occasions is “Why do the GP surgeries need to be moved from their current locations? Why can’t one or both of the practices be extended?” In response to this question, the Eastbourne, Hailsham and Seaford Clinicial Commissioning Group has explained that:

 

“The existing sites of both practices are too small to develop a health hub that would accommodate the expected local growth in population and the subsequent need for more and better care facilities in the future. A larger site will also support the changes anticipated as part of the national move towards Primary Care Networks.

 

The population of Seaford is projected to increase by nearly 20% between 2001 (22,000) and 2027 (26,000) with patient numbers across the two GP practices (Old School and Seaford Medical) expected to increase to around 32,000 by 2027. Both practices urgently need more space and modern facilities to maintain the levels of care that they currently provide to the residents of Seaford.”

 

 

Phil Abbott, Business Partner, Seaford Medical Practice.