Plans for a £20 million purpose-built new ‘health hub’ in Trowbridge have been lodged with the Wiltshire Council.
NHS Property Services wants to build the new integrated healthcare centre on land to the north-east of the existing Trowbridge Community Hospital at Hammersmith Fields.
The long-awaited centre is part of NHS plans to improve services to meet the demands from patients across the west Wiltshire area.
The new facility will eventually replace existing services in Trowbridge Community Hospital and provide additional primary care capacity and enhanced primary care services alongside acute outreach and community services.
The application for the approval of reserved matters follows a previous outline planning application and covers its appearance, landscaping, layout and scale.
Cllr Stewart Palmen, the leader of Trowbridge Town Council and a Wiltshire councillor, said: “This is good news for Trowbridge as outline planning permission has already been granted.”
Plans for the two-storey high healthcare centre were first submitted in April 2020 and approved by Wiltshire Council in January 2021.
The 2,468 square metre building would have 236 square metres of office space and car parking with existing access off Hammersmith Fields.
Bath & North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire Integrated Care Board said: “The proposed site for the new, purpose- built, modern, integrated healthcare centre is on Seymour Road, on land adjacent to the existing Trowbridge Community Hospital.
“The new facility will replace existing services in Trowbridge Community Hospital and provide additional primary care capacity and enhanced primary care services alongside acute outreach and community services.
“Local GPs and other service providers, along with service users and patient groups have been involved with the plans to ensure they meet the needs of the local community.”
The investment project is being managed by the BSW ICB, and the proposed centre is likely to be similar to the Devizes Health Centre, which opened in February 2023 and is one of the region’s first integrated care centres.
The new state-of-the-art facility would deliver enhanced services in an improved clinical setting and would offer locals a wide range of health and wellbeing services under one roof.
It would provide primary care services, such as those traditionally found in GP practices, together with hospital outpatient services, physiotherapy, audiology, blood tests, and mental health support.
Patients of local GP practices would be able to be referred for same or next-day medical care at the new health centre, making it easier for patients to access the care they need locally.
Community services provided by WHC at the Trowbridge Community Hospital would also be delivered, alongside a range of outpatient services provided by the RUH in Bath and some of Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust’s community mental health services.
Trowbridge Town Council had no objections to the plans, providing the NHS makes sufficient space available for parking for both staff and users to avoid an impact on the local area.
It also asked for pedestrian access from Adcroft Street to the south, for electrical vehicle charging points in the car park and for double yellow lines to be painted at appropriate points along Melton Road and Seymour Road.
The deadline for consultation is February 9. Wiltshire Council hopes to decide the reserved matters application by April 11.
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