A £2.2 million purpose-built medical centre has opened in West Heath, Birmingham with financial support from Barclays.
West Heath Medical Centre encompasses not only a traditional GP surgery but also specialist healthcare services including gynaecology, ENT, maternity, minor surgery, weight management and counselling services amongst many others and is looking to expand the services further in the coming months.
West Heath Surgery, which occupied the building previously on the site for over 60 years, employs 20 staff and is delighted to have moved into the new premises. It provides healthcare to 4,000 patients in the local community – a number which is growing rapidly.
The project was the vision of local GP Dr Ashok Vora, who for a number of years wanted to develop a comprehensive healthcare service under one roof whereby consultants would come to patients in their local surgery rather than patients having to make what can be a daunting visit to the hospital.
Dr Vora has been an important part of the local community for many years including being a founding member of South Doc Services, a co-operative of local GPs providing out of hours healthcare to South Birmingham patients, who’s headquarters are also now located at the centre.
Dr Vora’s son Nirmal, a management consultant, has been the managing partner at the surgery for almost a decade and oversaw the project from start to finish, ensuring that the works came in on time and within budget.
Nirmal Vora said: “I am thrilled to have been able to take my father’s original vision to develop a centre that maintains a family surgery feel whilst accommodating all the services that are normally only found in the largest health centres. I believe we can now offer an environment and service to our patients that is second to none and deal with the many referrals to specialists in house which means that, in many cases, our patients can be treated at the centre rather than having to wait to be seen at a hospital. The feedback we have had from our patients has been tremendous and we are extremely excited to now have the appropriate premises to have become a GP training practice to develop GPs of the future.”
