New developer found for long-delayed GP surgery

Long awaited plans for a new GP surgery which have been beset by delays have moved a step closer to becoming reality.

The newly formed Thames Valley Integrated Care Board (ICB) announced on Thursday that it had found a developer to take on the project at Great Western Park in Didcot.

It comes more than a decade after residents began moving on to the housing estate, with health facilities promised in the original proposals still not built.

London based Apsley Henley Med has now taken on the project, after plans drawn up by the site's previous developers, Assura, were judged to be unaffordable.

Apsley Henley Med director Nick Bastian said his team was "ready and fired up to get started" on the project.

"We are looking forward to working with the GP practice, Thames Valley ICB and Vale of White Horse District Council on this exciting scheme," he added.

Reacting to the announcement, Didcot and Wantage MP Olly Glover said: "Residents in GWP have waited far too long for the GP surgery that was promised years ago."

"However, today's announcement is an important step in the right direction."

"With a new developer now appointed, this should provide the momentum that is needed to get this project up and running," the Liberal Democrat added.

Planning consent for the site, which would be run as a branch surgery to Woodlands Medical Centre, was secured last year.

Thames Valley ICB said it would now be looking to complete the required legal agreements with parties involved and oversee the transfer of the land to Vale of White Horse District Council.

It added that it would "continue engagement with the Woodlands Medical Centre and the developer to keep the project moving".

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