A special shovel, with royal connections, was used at a celebratory ground breaking ceremony today (23 February 2009) to mark the construction of the long awaited new GP surgery in Hartfield, which is due to open in October 2009.
The Earl and Countess De La Warr, who provided the land and who own the new surgery, selected a special gold painted spade once used by the Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, to turn the soil.
The new surgery at Old Crown Farm, which is off the High Street in Hartfield, will be a satellite of the Groombridge practice. They will serve a combined total of 4,500 patients.
Senior Partner Dr Andrew Wolfle says,
“This is a great day for Hartfield and our practice. For Hartfield it represents a dedicated surgery which is an important part of community life in a small village.
We look forward to developing our existing Groombridge premises in the near future, and will continue to offer full facilities at both sites”.
There will be three consulting rooms, a treatment room, new administration and staff areas, a dispensary and also a private interview room.
The GPs will be able to carry out more minor operations, provide enhanced diabetic clinics and family planning services and also counselling and physiotherapy sessions.
Patients will be provided with a large, comfortable waiting area and plenty of parking.
This is the first phase of further development at Old Crown Farm, which will include affordable housing, a farm shop and a small number of offices.
During the planning and building period, the GPs at Hartfield have been working from a temporary surgery building and are particularly looking forward to being at the new premises.
Members of Hartfield Parish Council worked particularly hard to help find the site location and also with organising the public consultations.
The new practice is part of a programme of building improved GP facilities in East Sussex.
Graham Credland, Primary Care Premises Lead for NHS East Sussex Downs and Weald says,
“This project has been a challenging one and has involved many partners in getting to this stage. The new surgery will form an essential part in the network of GP facilities serving this rural part of the county”.
