Solent NHS Trust supporting island residents to access high quality, local GP services
Solent NHS Trust is playing its part in helping Isle of Wight residents retain a strong, local GP surgery presence by taking on the management of Medina Healthcare GP Surgery from September 2024.
The Trust also plans to maintain Medina Healthcare’s GP Surgery presence in Wootton Bridge.
The decision comes after extensive discussions and in-person feedback sessions involving Medina Healthcare patients and other community representatives, and further assessments by Solent regarding the viability of the current site.
Medina Healthcare initially concluded that the building works required to fully repair issues identified would be too disruptive and that the permanent relocation of the surgery would be the only feasible option.
However, the collective efforts of Solent, the NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight, Medina Healthcare’s team, and Assura has enabled us to explore further options with our intention being to keep the Wootton Bridge site operational. Throughout this entire process, all partners have actively gathered feedback from patients and other stakeholders to ensure an informed position and ability to best cater for islanders’ needs and the continuity of high-quality care.
In addition to our plans to continue operations at Wootton Bridge, a new facility will be developed at Riverway House in Newport, scheduled to open in summer 2025. The new site will feature modern healthcare technology, and improved accessibility, offering a better environment for patient care and improving face-to-face appointment capacity such as GP and other healthcare appointments
Patients will continue to receive timely and high-quality care from the same dedicated island-based practice team across both sites.
Once Riverway has opened, any works required at Wootton Bridge will begin, with careful scheduling to minimise impact on patient care.
Solent NHS Trust’s Chief Operating Officer, Alasdair Snell, said: “We are proud to be growing our primary care presence on the island, already seen with sexual health and specialist dental services in place over recent years.
“We deeply value engaging with patients and other community voices as they can play an active and important role in helping us make our primary care services the very best they can be in terms of meeting people’s healthcare needs. We would like to thank everyone for their feedback whether it be through the patient engagement sessions in the Spring, or directly – it has been really informative.
“Solent is committed to helping healthcare professionals remain in the heart of communities like Wootton Bridge. The new developments in Newport will complement our services and provide more comprehensive care options for people of all ages.”