Decision made on preferred location for Melton's new GP surgery

Melton Borough Council and the local health authority have identified the council’s Parkside offices as the best potential option to set up a new practice.

The town’s current GP surgery – Latham House Medical Practice – has 36,000 registered patients and would not be able to cope with the thousands of extra people due to move into Melton over the next few years in new homes.

The new practice is unlikely to be open for at least two years and then the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Integrated Care Board (LLR ICB) would be responsible for hiring doctors for it.

The council would continue to operate from part of the building after the GPs move in.

A spokesperson for the borough council told the Melton Times: “Following positive work with health partners at the ICB, it is clear there is a compelling opportunity to explore the delivery of Melton Mowbray’s second GP surgery by utilising existing space within the council’s Parkside offices.

“Whilst it is still subject to full viability assessment, this is our preferred option and we are now working closely with ICB colleagues to fully asses the costs and implications associated with it.”

A significant proportion of the council’s employees are now able to work from home for part of the week and a number of local authority partners have now moved out of Parkside so the council has lots of free office space.

The council is aiming to secure the best value, both financially and for the community, for all of its assets – deciding on Parkside as the preferred option came out of discussions among members of the authority’s asset development working group.

On the proposals to use part of the council offices as a GP practice, the spokesperson added: “We would envisage bringing a report to cabinet in the spring confirming the outcome and deciding whether to proceed to the detailed business case stage.”

We reported back in August that the council had narrowed down its options for the new doctors’ practice to Parkside and Phoenix House, on Nottingham Road, but the latter has now been discounted.