Building work on Assura’s new surgery in Shirley near Southampton has officially completed, and the new facility is ready to welcome patients.
Assura explains that The Shirley Health Partnership needed new premises to provide an increased number of services to its15,000 patients. The former 1970s premises were no longer fit for purpose, the facilities were outdated, and there were not enough clinical rooms to meet the demands of patients. The company said: “The new building has seen an old steel portal frame supermarket building repurposed into a state-of-the-art medical centre with 21 clinical rooms and health education meeting space.”
The local primary care network, which serves over 80,000 patients, will also provide services to the new building, including social prescribers, health coaches, mental health professionals, and care co-ordinators. The building will also host Midwives from the University Hospital Southampton and mental health practitioners delivering support through the local Steps2Wellbeing service.
Dr Angus Ferguson, Executive partner, Shirley Health Partnership, said: “It has been a long journey to get to the point of moving, but it has been well worth the wait. The GP partners are extremely pleased with our new building. It provides first-rate modern healthcare accommodation for our staff and patients. The waiting room is beautiful, and the décor and design layout calming, with lots of light and space. More space will allow us the flexibility to develop our services to our patients and the community in the coming months and years. We are delighted.”
The new building has achieved an EPC B, with a BREEAM ‘Very Good’ rating, and an ‘Excellent’ rating for Energy. There are also eight electric vehicle charging points.
Alastair Barlow, Assura’s Development director, said: “This has been a challenging project to work on, repurposing a centrally located, substantial vacant former supermarket to bring it back into community use. A project on this scale takes a great deal of coordination and teamwork from all involved to deliver it, and the end-result speaks for itself – a state-of-the-art medical centre fit for the future provision of primary care in Shirley.”
