Building work on a brand new £5.5 million health centre in Minchinhampton got underway on Monday with a small turf cutting celebration to mark the start of construction.

The new health centre will be built at Vosper Field on Cirencester Road, just over half a mile away from the current surgery.

The turf was cut on the site with a small gathering of representatives from Minchinhampton Surgery, NHS Gloucestershire and construction company Markey Construction in attendance.

Eco-friendly building materials will be used to make the new building environmentally friendly and as sustainable as possible and landscaping will be sympathetic, with steps being taken to protect and preserve conditions for biodiversity and work with nature as much as possible.

There will be 53 car parking spaces on the site, as well as electric charge points and cycle storage. Bus stops and pavements will also be included.

Quantity surveyors Carl Dean Associates will be overseeing the project and construction work is expected to take around 12 months to complete.

Dr Tristan Cooper, GP partner at Minchinhampton Surgery, said: "We are really pleased that work on our new health centre is finally getting underway and we are very much looking forward to watching the centre take shape over the coming months.

"We engaged specialist medical architects Corstorphine & Wright who have designed a high-quality building that will fit into its surroundings, and we hope it will be welcoming to all our patients, including those living with dementia and disabilities."

The new premises will be more spacious, meaning the surgery team will have capacity to provide services to around 9,000 patients. This will help them meet the ever-increasing levels of demand from their patients and extend the range of services they provide.

Additional consulting and treatment rooms will allow a wider range of healthcare professionals, including pharmacists, physiotherapists, social prescribers, GP assistants and mental health practitioners, to support and treat patients in ways that best meet their individual needs.

The rooms will also be used for minor operations and a range of clinics, such as respiratory, counselling, midwifery, dementia and sexual health clinics.

The practice is also looking forward to being able to offer training and educational updates to staff.

Helen Goodey, director of primary care and place at NHS Gloucestershire, said: "We recognised some time ago that the practice needed to move to larger, more modern premises so we are really pleased to see building work get underway.

"The centre will be great for the local area, allowing the practice to extend the range of services it can offer to patients and ensure it provides high quality services for years to come."

Steve Goscomb, contracts manager at Markey Construction, said: "Markey Construction is delighted to be involved in this fantastic project and the team are looking forward to starting on this exciting new facility".

Completion and opening is scheduled for autumn 2024.

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