On Tuesday 11th August Hereford Medical Group (HMG) was excited to welcome the Prime Minister Boris Johnson to Station Medical Centre for a private visit and to show him how the building is progressing and a glimpse of the facilities that will be on offer for both patients and staff.
Dr. Watts, Clinical Director for HMG Primary Care Network (PCN) said: “The Prime Minister heard about our desire to provide improved services through this new building. He also heard how fortunate we were to receive support from NHS England and Herefordshire and Worcestershire Clinical Commissioning Group to be able to undertake this project”.
The new building will have 49 clinical rooms including specialist rooms such as a minor operations suite and activity room for use by the physiotherapist.
Station Medical Centre will provide enhanced accomodation for administrative staff with a large purpose built space for staff to work in on the second floor. The second floor also benefits from an education room, library, meeting rooms and a well-equipped staff room to ensure that staff have somewhere to relax during break times.
Dr. Duffett, Chairman of HMG, Dr. Watts, Mr. Ceri Chaplin, Business Manager and Miss. Bethany Wright, Communications and Patient Experience Manager, met with the Prime Minister along with representatives from Prime Plc, the developers of the build, Speller Metcalfe, the building contractors, Mr. Simon Trickett from Herefordshire and Worcestershire Clinical Commissioning Group and Jesse Norman MP.
Dr. Duffett showed the Prime Minister around Station Medical Centre and highlighted many of the innovative primary care roles Hereford Medical Group will have working in the Station Medical Centre. Dr Duffett shared how we deliver our services and how we have adapted throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. Dr. Duffett said: “It was fantastic to be able to share the new medical centre with the Prime Minister; Station Medical Centre will be a state of the art facility for both our patients and staff and we feel extremely lucky that Hereford Medical Group will be able to call Station Medical Centre home”.
Simon Trickett, Chief Executive Officer at NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire Clinical Commissioning Group said: ‘It was great that the PM had time to come and visit what will be a hugely important development for the people of Hereford. We are proud of the work that the system did in pulling together a range of things to make the new Medical Centre possible and hope very much that it becomes a big part of healthcare delivery for the local population’.
Hereford Medical Group would like to thank all their patients for their understanding throughout the past two years. It has been an intense period of change and we are grateful for our supportive patients, community and staff. The opening of Station Medical Centre will bring a new wave of change but we are confident that our patients and staff will embrace this change that we have been working towards since we merged in 2018. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said “It was fantastic to see this brand new GP surgery being built right here in Hereford. When it opens its doors this autumn, patients around the city and surrounding communities will benefit from excellent care and access to a number of services underone roof.”
