A new health centre will be built on the site of a former hospital near Bristol after it has been approved by South Gloucestershire Council. The new health centre, which would house two GP surgeries, will be built at the former Thornbury Hospital site.
Thornbury Hospital ceased operation in 2018 and was subsequently left vacant. South Gloucestershire Council later purchased the site from North Bristol NHS Trust with plans to turn the site into a housing development.
In July 2023, confirmation was received from the Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board that £14.4 million of funding was available to fund a new Thornbury Health Centre. As recently as October 2024, the council was given planning permission to demolish all the buildings on site and work to tear down the existing outbuildings is expected to be completed by March 31.
The site of the former hospital is located next to the existing Thornbury Health Centre, which is home to the Severn View and Streamside GP practices. It is planned that both GPs, alongside Sirona Care & Health and the North Bristol NHS Trust, will use the new health centre, which will also contain offices.
The new health centre will be two storeys in size and split so each GP has its own dedicated area with consultation rooms, whilst sharing waiting rooms. Severn View will have 16 consultation rooms, two treatment rooms and office space for 21 people, whilst Streamside will have eight consultation rooms, a treatment room and office space for 11 people.
In total, the new facilities will give the GPs an additional seven consultation rooms, two dedicated phlebotomy rooms and an additional seminar room. There will also be larger store areas and six additional workstations.
As part of the development, 72 car parking spaces will be available and there will be 33 cycle bays. The design and access statement adds that the site is 4,900 metres squared in size.
On January 17, the council was given planning permission to build the new health centre once the existing buildings of the former hospital are demolished. There are 20 conditions which have been attached to the planning permission.
These conditions include the development (which does not include the demolition, which was subject to an alternative application) beginning within three years of the date of permission being granted and construction plans being submitted. Four conditions affect the starting date for the construction of the new health centre.