Teignbridge GP merger on the cards

Two could become one

A new doctors’ surgery could be built in Teignbridge by 2028 as two existing practices seek to merge.

Two partners from Teign Estuary Medical Group are retiring in May this year, and Channel View Medical Group is pursuing a merger with it. Together they look after 22,500 patients.

Michelle Smith, managing partner at Channel View, told Devon County Council’s health and adult scrutiny committee it had been a “tumultuous year”.

“What we have tried to do is to make best of what is not a great situation,” she said.

“We have secured some funding to make sure we can make some short-term improvements and increase the available clinical space.”

It has been given £75,000 as a minor improvement grant.

Ms Smith added that the last time she addressed the committee, the surgery had roughly 30 to 40 per cent less clinical space than it needs once it merges.

She said leases had now been secured on office space outside the practice’s premises called the Den, and that administrative staff would move there to free up clinical space.

Two further rooms in its Courtenay Place surgery would be turned into medical space.

However, leases on its Den and the adjacent building can only be extended until April 2028, creating the need for a new surgery. This will require a planning application by this October if it is to be ready in time.

NHS Devon and Teignbridge District Council will need to decided where to locate the new building soon.

A letter to the committee from One Devon, which encompasses NHS Devon and local councils said:  “Discussions are ongoing with the council regarding the suitability of both the Brunswick North and South sites.”

It continued: “The project team is reviewing financing/funding options and will prepare a proposal for consideration by the [district] council and the hope is a meeting will be arranged in the next four-to-six weeks,” the letter added.

Cllr Sara Randall Johnson (Conservative, Broadclyst) the committee’s chair, said the situation is “not very satisfactory”.

Others queried the timeframe by which the new surgery needed to be planned and built.

But the NHS’s Clive Stone said having a shorter deadline would focus minds on the task.