A plan to build a health campus on land off New Haine Road in Ramsgate has been submitted to Thanet council.
Developer Quinn Estates wants to create a primary medical care facility, a 70 flat extra care/assisted living building, an 8o-bed care home, two retirement blocks consisting of 90 self contained flats and a children’s nursery at the site which is at the rear of Westwood Sainsburys.
The medical care facility has been earmarked as the new premises for The Grange GP surgery which is currently based at the Montefiore Medical Centre in Dumpton Park Drive. East Cliff GPs, also at the Montefiore centre, will not be moving out of the premises and are hoping to expand the services they provide at the site.
Planning documents for the Westwood Health Campus development say: “The vision for the health campus is to combine a range of much-needed health and care uses to complement the wider, emerging with community at New Haine Road and the surrounding area.
“This exemplar scheme presents a unique, once-in-a-generation opportunity for the district. It also offers the chance to provide enhanced pedestrian and cycle connections between New Haine Road and development parcels to the south as well as access to Jackey Bakers recreational ground to the east.
“This mixed use development will deliver a much needed primary healthcare facility providing GP’s appointments to the local population as well as providing a range of other residential care facilities.
“This care is graduated on the site from retirement living to extra care/assisted living to a full care/nursing home providing a variety of people the opportunity to live in the same location over a number of years as their needs change.
“The proximity to the primary medical facility is a key element of the health campus meaning that residents can be seen quickly and easily without requiring patent transport or GPs to travel great distances to attend to local residents.
“The layout of the development has been arrived at through careful analysis of the opportunities and constraints that the site offers as well as the surrounding context. This has enabled the site to develop a distinct character and sense of place of its own with open space set around a larger courtyard formed by the proposed buildings.
“This approach will help to create a friendly, safe and pleasant community that people can take pride in and which serves the needs of the local population as well as delivering key benefits associated with the health campus.”
Quinn Estates says it has worked on the proposals with the Integrated Care Board (previously Clinical Commissioning Group), The Grange Medical Practice and Thanet District Council.
A planning statement prepared by Iceni Projects on behalf of Quinn Estates Ltd says the development would create 70 affordable socially rented units, significantly in excess of policy requirement, a nursing home and two retirement homes that would support the growing need for specialist accommodation for an ageing population and free up housing in the district; a children’s nursery that would support the growing number of families in the Westwood area and generate more than 80 full-time equivalent high-quality jobs.
The buildings will be low carbon and there will be space for the biodiversity.
The statement says there is a current demand for both nursing care bedspaces and residential care bedspaces in Thanet with a total current shortfall of 839 beds, growing to 1181 beds by 2040 if not addressed.
Extra care need is shown as having an affordable shortfall of 309 units growing to 1,103 units by 2040 if not addressed. The Westwood plan is for 100% affordable socially rented extra care homes.
Planning documents say retirement living need has a total current shortfall of 750 units in Thanet, adding: “To address the demand by 2040, the district will need to supply a total of 1,955 units which is a considerable shortfall.”
The need for a GP surgery in Westwood is also highlight in the documents: “The Ramsgate Primary Care Network (PCN), along with the neighbouring Margate PCN and CARE Kent PCN are all operating above the recognised benchmark GP to patient ratio.
“This could be expected to increase significantly in the coming years as over 5,000 new homes are allocated or approved within a 20-minute walk of the Site. The proposals would accommodate an increased workforce and registered patients over the coming years for the Grange Practice, which will bring numerous benefits including expanding and integrating services.
“The primary care facility has been progressed in full consultation with NHS Kent and Medway, and the proposed schedule of accommodation, proposed patient list size, and strategic need for the primary care facility are fully supported.”
A nursery is also planned to serve the increasing number of new families at Westwood. Documents say water efficient fittings will be provided within the buildings and rainwater harvesting will be considered. There will be new planting on-site and where feasible, a new wetland habitat and dedicated biodiversity area.
The Grange Medical Practice is currently asking for patients’ views via a questionnaire and plans to hold public meetings.
On the practice website it says: “For a number of years, Thanet CCG and latterly NHS Kent ICB, has sought to consolidate the delivery of primary and community care in Thanet District through the creation of a number of GP “Hubs”.
“The proposed Hub for Ramsgate involves the provision of new premises for The Grange Practice (“TGP”). TGP’s existing premises are recognised by the ICB as inadequate.
“Following an extensive site search a suitable site at Westwood Cross has been identified. The proposal is to relocate TGP to the new site from which it will provide a comprehensive range of primary care based services in purpose built new premises.
“An outline application for the entire site was submitted in December of last year and subject to your views, and the outcome of this wider application, we would anticipate a detailed planning application for the new GP premises to be submitted in the summer of this year.”
Plans, an FAQ and the questionnaire can be accessed at: https://www.thegrangepracticeramsgate.nhs.uk/2024/01/11/the-grange-practice-update-on-proposed-new-surgery/
Planning documents say all Grange staff would move to the new facility and it is hoped the workforce could expand in the two years after the move to provide 10 additional specialist staff, adding: “The Grange Practice is planning to increase its list size by 50% over the next 5 to 6 years so this will also increase the PCN workforce budget further.”
The proposal is understood to mean that both surgeries will have space at the Ramsgate and Westwood premises to expand services.
If planning approval is granted the new surgery will be built at the start of the development, without waiting for a “tipping point” of other elements of the development on the adjoining site to be completed.
Proposals for a GP surgery go back to at least 2017 when proposals were made to replace Thanet’s 17 GP surgeries with 4 extended practices, serving a catchment of between 30-60,000 patients, and a medical hub.
County Councillor Karen Constantine, who sits on the health scrutiny panel at KCC, said: “Health care across Thanet is being downgraded by degrees.
“I’m not opposed to the plans to open a new surgery and the other facilities on Westwood. With the growth of housing and population these facilities are going to be needed, on that basis, they should be welcomed.
“However, I am concerned about the (relocation) of a surgery that many residents in Ramsgate currently use. Moving the Grange practice to Westwood will mean the loss of access to a GP. Many people that I know who use this surgery are older and have mobility issues. Are these patients now expected to pay for taxis or will they be able to relocate to another GP surgery? This of course will mean increased pressure on surgeries that are already under strain.
“As ever, the devil is in the detail. And this being the NHS, the broader concerns pertaining to our NHS including clinical staff must be taken into consideration.
“The big picture is the GP ratio to patients, and the overall shortage of GP’s. I’m aware that a number of GP surgeries are downgrading GP numbers, functioning with fewer GPs by replacing them with Paramedics and ANP. In Thanet the overall number of GPs is important as we’ve had too few for a long time.
“Whilst I know staff will do their best to listen to our concerns I would also question the veracity of the consultation process. In the recent past we’ve participated in consultations with the NHS over a variety of issues which have resulted in our local community being ignored. This is why we don’t have HASU close by and will have to travel to Ashford in the near future. Not a great decision for the health of the local population.
“There has been an ambition to have a ‘super surgery, at Westwood Cross since 2016, since then there have been many challenges not least of all Covid. And the continuing decline in the numbers of clinicians, in this context, GPs are particularly important. The number of GPs across Thanet, in whichever surgery is a critical issue.
“People need to be able to access primary healthcare as close to home as possible. It goes without saying for those with restricted mobility or conditions that require close monitoring surgeries should be accessible.”
A decision on the application has not yet been made.
