Ratby Surgery are pleased to say that they have successfully received planning permission to build a new medical centre on Desford Lane, Ratby!
The approved plans include:
- A new and modern, up to date GP practice premises with 10 consulting rooms and a new surgical suite so that the practice can offer more services closer to home for our patients in Ratby and the local area
- Space for Masons Chemists Ratby to move into to be adjoining the practice to ensure it is easier for patients to collect their prescriptions
- A new dental practice adjoining the GP surgery (more information on this will be available soon)
- A large carpark to accommodate local residents to use all of the facilities at the medical centre
The approved plans are now being reviewed by the local health authority (LLR CCGs and NHS England) before the scheme can be fully approved and take place.
Patient consultation results
Starting in September 2019 we launched a public consultation regarding our proposal to relocate Ratby Surgery into a new purpose-built surgery on Desford Lane, Ratby. The purpose of this consultation was to seek and understand the views of our patients and stakeholders regarding the impact of the change.
We have reviewed and considered all of the patient and stakeholder feedback received. We are pleased to say that we had a good response rate, and in this letter we would like to share with you the feedback we received and how it has informed and shaped our plans going forward.
The following “you said, we did” table outlines how the feedback has informed and influenced our plans or has supported the work already in progress.
You Said | We did |
Being able to consult with my doctor of choice, with a mixture of urgent, semi urgent and urgent appointments from a modern medical premises. | The plans developed are for an up-to-date medical centre with a significant increase in consulting rooms, enabling us to see and care for more patients from Ratby, Kirby Muxloe and surrounding villages, which are seeing a significant increase in size. They are designed to allow us to offer more services from the medical centre closer to home, including day case procedures from the surgical suite. |
Adequate parking including disabled parking | A significant increase in parking spaces - over 50 being available instead of the current 12 available, and with 4 disabled spaces rather than 1. |
The ability to have minor procedures and services other than 'core' GP services onsite that might have previously been provided within hospitals such as physiotherapy, but also including a dentist and an onsite chemist | The plans include: · A dental suite · Relocation of the local chemist onsite · Surgical unit for minor procedures to be performed in the community · Increased number of clinical rooms to facilitate other health professionals including upskilled physiotherapists and clinical pharmacists. |
Seeing the same doctor or nurse regularly | We have always felt this is very important and is one of our strengths as a smaller GP surgery. Following your feedback and the impact of Covid-19, we have reviewed our appointment system in order to ensure that we continue to offer a significant number of both urgent (seen within 3 days) and routine appointments for patients, of which they can book with a clinician of their choice. However for emergency appointments this cannot be guaranteed. The increased number of clinical rooms in the new premises means that the current limitations on clinician hours due to space, will no longer apply. |
Ease of making an appointment either by telephone or online | Over the last couple of years we have expanded our reception team in response to the increased number of patients we are caring for, but currently we are at maximum capacity in terms of space. We anticipate that with our new premises we will be able to employ and provide working space for more administrative staff to support our rapidly increasing number of registered patients with the practice. Our appointments can be booked either over the phone or online (for those who have requested access). Reception staff are able to be contacted via our online services for queries as well as by phone. We are mindful that we don’t wish to make any route a shortcut over another to speak to a medical professional as this may cause inequity for some patients who are only able to use one mode of contact to engage with the surgery. |
Competent reception staff with good customer service skills | Our reception team receive regular training and the whole practice reviews patient and other health professionals’ feedback at regular practice meetings in order to ensure we continue to strive to improve our service to patients. |
Urgent appointments made on the day | There are always urgent appointments on the day for urgent medical problems. Our plan is to have an increased number of clinical rooms so that we can increase the number of clinical staff within the practice who are able to offer urgent appointments |
The next step is for the above information to be presented to the relevant NHS governing committee for consideration and approval as part of the overall project in November 2021. We hope that the project will commence in early 2022.
We would like to reassure all patients that this is to replace only the building that Ratby Surgery use. The GP's, receptionists and the rest of the team you know at Ratby Surgery will remain the same, but will be able to offer more services for patients closer to home.
If you have any questions about this scheme, please contact Sheila Adcock via reception.