Construction on the new £1.6m health centre development in Station Road is scheduled to start in the new year. The building will be owned by the Felsted Community as it was donated as part of the original planning agreement. With seven consulting rooms and parking for more than 30 cars, it will be a modern community facility delivered by our Neighbourhood Plan.
From the outset the intention has been to offer a generously discounted lease of the new premises to the NHS and use the income to maintain the premises and to provide other much needed services to our parishioners. We have worked with the developer, Uttlesford District Council, the West Essex Clinical Commissioning Group (WECCG) and the John Tasker House Partnership (JTH) to make sure that the building meets the highest clinical standards. The parish has incurred considerable professional fees in the process.
The WECCG was dissolved in 2023, it was replaced by the Hertfordshire and West Essex Integrated Care Board (ICB) since which time it has been a different story!
The ICB said they are only prepared to consider supporting our doctors’ tenancy of the building if we offer it to them as a ‘gift’ or accept a 90% rent abatement which will not cover the on-costs incurred by the Council
We have told the ICB and the JTH practice that though we remain keen to see the NHS use our new facility, we can’t agree to a rent that financially impacts our community. Unfortunately, the ICB didn’t seem interested and has continued to demand an unaffordable reduction.
Our intention was that the NHS gets the opportunity to use an accessible purpose built facility, constructed to current NHS standards at no capital costs. This facility would offer disabled access, easy parking and would help ease congestion in the village centre.
Sadly, we’ve been informed that apparently the Doctors now seem to have changed their mind and, however affordable we make the rent, it doesn’t think that the GP’s practice can work with a Felsted community landlord. Therefore, the ICB is now apparently considering ‘investing in improvements’ to the existing Felsted surgery premises owned by the JTH practice.
Whatever the ICB now plans, there still won’t be any parking!
With the full support of UDC, the Council and the Trustees will continue to try to talk with the ICB to find a solution. But the facility will be built and owned by the Felsted Community Trust: whether the NHS wants to occupy it or not!