MP Hunt Raises Searching Questions Over Ash’s Primary Healthcare Concerns

Published on: 1 Nov, 2024
Updated on: 1 Nov, 2024

The Ash site earmarked for a medical facility

By David Reading

Jeremy Hunt, MP, has promised to take action to address people’s fears that GP surgeries covering Ash won’t be able to cope with the area’s huge population growth triggered by the building of hundreds of new homes.

The MP for the new constituency of Godalming and Ash was responding to an open letter by Tongham resident John Ferns, which was published in the Guildford Dragon.

Mr Ferns had written: “As a former Health Secretary and currently our MP, you are uniquely qualified to address the growing concerns of residents regarding healthcare provision in the Ash and Tongham area. This issue has long needed serious scrutiny and clear answers, especially given the rapid population growth.”

On October 18, The Guildford Dragon NEWS reported that a consortium of GPs had expressed an interest in building and running a general practice surgery on the site set aside by Bewley Homes for healthcare purposes in Ash.

This would aim at meeting the additional need for primary care services created by the new housing. But NHS Frimley has insisted that the best way to meet the area’s housing boom will be to invest in the existing GP services rather than by building a new surgery.

We also reported that back in September 2023 Guildford Borough Council said it was “actively exploring” the use of the Bewley land “for community purposes.” But as we have reported, GBC has seemed reticent about providing updates.

Jeremy Hunt MP

In his reply to Mr Ferns, Mr Hunt said: “I can confirm that while I was knocking on doors across Ash in the run-up to the General Election, getting GP appointments was a major concern.”

Mr Hunt acknowledged there had been disappointment that the NHS does not appear to want the Bewley land and he said it had become unclear what the NHS alternative plans actually are. He acknowledged, too, that it was unclear what GBC’s community use for the land would entail.

The Conservative MP outlined four steps he is taking to address the situation.

He said he has a meeting lined up with the Chief Executive of Frimley Park Hospital and also Surrey Heartlands ICS to find out exactly what expansion in existing provision is intended at the Bartlett Group Practice in Ash Vale and the Border practice in Blackwater Way. He said he would ask what new additional capacity this would provide.

Would it cover 1,870 new homes (so 6,000-plus new patients)? He said he would be asking for “more comfort on how this will work in reality and if this is the solution which will best respond to the needs of residents of Ash and Tongham.”

Second, Mr Hunt said he would be meeting heads at the Bartlett Group Practice in the coming weeks to get an understanding of their position.

Third, he would be writing to Guildford Borough Council to ask what proposals and suggestions there were for the community use of the site set aside by Bewley and how the council would be taking its plans forward.

Fourth, Mr Hunt said he would also ask GBC about the provisions of the Section 106 agreement under which house building companies have pledged to provide money to support Ash and Tongham’s infrastructure. He said questions would include: what Section 106 funds are in place, how are they being used and are they all being directed to the locality of Ash?

Having received the MP’s response, Mr Ferns said: “As the resident who raised these pressing healthcare concerns with our MP, I’m glad to see Jeremy Hunt engaging with the issue. I attended a public meeting back in January 2018—recorded on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kgWTHwfH6Q (from timestamp 3.26).

“That was supposed to address public concerns about the limits of our existing infrastructure. Bewley Homes promised a new health centre within the Ash Lodge Drive development, but one local practice less than a mile away, across the county border in Rushmoor, openly stated they’d never been consulted, exposing a serious disconnect between planning and healthcare needs.

“Now, with a booming population, NHS Frimley’s refusal to consider a new surgery on the Bewley site—despite interest from GPs willing to set it up at no cost—is unacceptable. Our community needs real, immediate solutions, not vague assurances. It’s time for NHS Frimley and Guildford Borough Council to address these needs head-on and deliver transparent, actionable plans for Ash’s healthcare future.”

The news that a consortium of GPs is interested in the Bewley site was revealed by Guildford borough councillor Cllr Sue Wyeth-Price (R4GV, Ash South).

She said: “Cllr David Shaw and I have been meeting with a group of GPs from a very highly rated and innovative practice currently based in east London who are looking to expand here. They are willing to build and run a new GP practice on the site which would provide considerable benefits to the local community at no capital cost to the NHS.

“However, NHS Frimley are unwilling to support any new practice, apparently based on the consultations they had with the two existing surgeries which cover the local area.”