POLL: Would you back a GP surgery at Horsham Hospital?

Proposals to co-locate three town centre practices, Orchard, Courtyard and Riverside, to a new medical centre in Broadbridge Heath were unveiled by the Horsham and Mid Sussex Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) in July as part of its consultation on the future of local health services.

Doctors have stressed that no final decision had been made but doing nothing ‘was not an option’ as the population of the town increases, with existing GP surgeries already over capacity.

But at a Horsham District Council Health Provision Working Group meeting last Thursday an alternative option to include GP facilities alongside enhanced services at Horsham Hospital, in Hurst Road, received backing from several councillors.

Several civic buildings in Hurst Road, including the police and fire stations, are expected to be relocated, although firm plans have yet to be announced.

David Skipp (LDem, Roffey North), chairman of the working group, said: “We have got sites up there which actually we could develop into a superb facility right by the hospital. It could be a very exciting challenge.”

He added: “I do not think it’s out of the realms of possibility, [but] if the three practices have agreed to go to Broadbridge Heath the whole thing is dead in the water.”

While the retention of a town centre base has been discussed if the practices move to Broadbridge Heath, some members felt that asking patients to travel out of the town was a bad idea.

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