'Bad move' to scrap plans for new GP surgery

Plans to build a new town centre GP surgery have been scrapped in a move branded a "bad step" by council leaders.

The health hub and GP centre had been proposed for a council-owned site on Reform Road in Maidenhead, Berkshire, but the land is now for sale and Frimley Integrated Care Board (FICB) confirmed the plans were not going ahead.

A spokesperson blamed rising construction costs and interest rates, and said FICB was already "among the top performers nationally" at providing primary care.

But Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Council leader Simon Werner said there was a "desperate" need for more GP surgeries in the town.

"I think it's a really bad step by the health authority," he said.

"With all the building that's going on in Maidenhead, with all the flats... we need more GPs."

FICB said the plans were put on pause during the pandemic, and then scrapped because of costs.

The spokesperson said FICB did not employ GPs, but that it did support primary care services "facing unprecedented demand pressures".

They added FICB was "delivering more appointments in the primary care system than ever before".

Mr Werner was speaking at a meeting of council leaders on Wednesday 2 October, where they approved the sale of several properties on Reform Road for £3.5m.

The 11 buildings are currently let by the council on long ground leases, earning the council £184,000 per year in rent.

But council plans said their value is "unlikely to grow" without investment, and selling them was a better option.

Maidenhead Gurdwara and the Jubilee Community Church have expressed a joint interest in buying Clyde House, the Project Centre and car park at the site of the demolished Waldeck House – where the health hub had been proposed.

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