Town's new medical centre opens after 15-year wait

A new medical centre has welcomed its first patients after 15 years of delays.

Leominster's Ryeland Surgery, which has nearly 20,000 patients, has moved to a new home at the £7m Marsh Court Health Centre, which also houses a research hub. The new surgery faced numerous setbacks, including the pandemic, and its completion date was pushed back several times.

Dr Crispin Fisher, who led the Herefordshire project, said the old practice was "completely unsatisfactory".

"Now we've got a purpose-built, wonderful medical centre, with plenty of consulting rooms, 72 parking spaces, wonderful access for disabled people," he said. "It's a wonderful building and it's what Leominster deserves."

"It's been a 15-year campaign," said Fisher. "It's been a marathon and we've just crossed the finishing line.

"The whole team here are really pleased to have finally moved in."

The building is designed to look less clinical, incorporating natural materials and landscaping.

Fisher said the patient experience was one of the main priorities.

"There's an upstairs clinical corridor with its own waiting room, which is very light and spacious, and there are other sub-waiting areas as well, so people can tuck themselves away if they want to."

The building includes a separate research hub, something Fisher said was unusual for a medical centre, which is currently involved in a trial for a new drug to treat kidney disease.

"I don't think there are many surgeries in the country that have their own research centre on site, so I'm almost as excited about that as I am about the main building."

Fisher added that there was space for the site to grow should the need arise.

"There's a lot of building planned for Leominster, which will be a lot of extra patients registered with this surgery because we are the only surgery," he said. "We've got 19,500 at the moment, but in future years if we need to expand we have the space to do it."

The new surgery will be officially opened by Prof Sir Sam Everington, President of the Royal College of General Practitioners, on Saturday.

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