A former doctors’ surgery in Brading, which closed more than 2 years ago, could be turned into a 4-bed house.
Beech Grove Surgery, on The Mall in Brading, was closed in April 2020. It was the town’s only surgery and the closure left more than 4,500 patients having to transfer to other facilities, as its partner surgery in Lake closed at the same time.
The husband and wife GP team who ran the practices, Dr Anitha Ande and Dr Vyasa Akundi, said they could no longer cope with the rising demand and decreasing resources.
Hundreds of people signed a petition to ask that medical facilities stayed in the local areas. The-then Isle of Wight NHS Clinical Commissioning Group tried to find alternative provision but no one came forward.
The building has permission to be used as a surgery but the application is seeking to turn it into a house. The property was a house until around 1983 when it was turned into the doctors’ surgery.
Work to transform the Victorian villa back into a dwelling began earlier this year, but has not been finished.
Planning documents submitted by the applicant, Mr J. Reynolds, say no interest was shown by Brading Town Council or other commercial enterprises to purchase the building for alternative community use.
It is said the building was at risk of remaining empty and failing into a poor state of repair but was sold last year, ensuring its future and presence along The Mall. The building was up for sale with a guide price of £475,000, and pictures from the Hose Rhodes Dickson listing show medical equipment, tables and chairs were left behind.
Plans show the house would have 4 bedrooms, a family room, study, snug and a hobby room.
As a GP practice, the facility had 7 surgery rooms, 4 offices and a boardroom.
You can view the plans, 22/02088/FUL, on the Isle of Wight Council’s planning portal. Comments can be submitted until 4th January.
Such a shame, another nail in the coffin of our once great but now sadly failing health system.
This once rest nation has sadly slipped to a second rate nation filling up with the world’s unwanted, draining our ever dwindling finances and making the indigenous peoples of these islands 2nd rate citizens, gagged and ignored but the woke left wing do-gooders who want to homogenise us into their woke ideology.
Enough I say, keep the doctors in Beading!
You could equally blame the decline of grassroots NHS services on the past 12 years of Tory government neglect. I fail to see what “wokeness” has to do with it! 😉