GPs will practise alongside chiropractors and osteopaths in a ‘health hub’ being built in North Somerset.
Housing developers Taylor Wimpey are building the hub as part of a plan to build three villages south west of Bristol.
According to the housing plans, the 1,000 square meter health hub will be built next to retirement homes to provide easier access to healthcare for older residents.
At the hub, patients will have access to GPs, dentists and physiotherapists as well as chiropractors, osteopaths and counselors.
This follows a warning from the RCGP in Scotland last year that says plans to build thousands of new houses across Scotland would have a major impact on an already overburdened general practice.
The new build in Somerset is modeled on NHS England’s Healthy New Towns initiative, which aims to put healthcare at the centre of new village and town proposals, and encourage people to pursue healthier lifestyles.
Gareth Hawke, the project’s director, said: ‘We fully agree with the approach NHS England is pursuing through its Healthy New Towns initiative, which is why we are putting our healthcare hub at the heart of our development.’
He added that more than half the land will be left as open space for sports facilities and parkland, ‘creating a clean environment which is good for both the health and wellbeing of our residents’.
He said: ‘One of the great advantages of starting from scratch – with new villages – is we can plan a community that works in all ways.
‘And building the healthcare hub in the centre of the development puts health at the heart of our proposals.’
Taylor Wimpey is expected to start discussions with local CCGs, GP and dental practices later in the planning process.
NHS Bristol CCG said the plans were at too early a stage for them to comment on.
