MP questions government over 'stalled' GP surgery

Olly Glover raised the issue in parliament on Wednesday

The health secretary has said he will "find out what has gone wrong" with the long-awaited creation of a new GP surgery.

Residents began moving onto Great Western Park, in Didcot, more than a decade ago, but health facilities promised in the original proposals have still not been built.

Raising the issue in the House of Commons on Wednesday, the Liberal Democrat MP for Didcot and Wantage Olly Glover said the new surgery plans had "stalled".

It comes as the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board (BOB ICB) said it was "continuing to progress plans".

Speaking in Westminster, Glover said: "The new GP surgery promised in 2008 remains a barren patch of land and existing facilities can't cope."

"The Integrated Care Board is supportive, but progress has stalled due to NHS England's involvement," he added.

Glover also asked the Health Secretary if he would meet with him to "help unblock the new GP surgery my constituents desperately need".

Responding to the request, Streeting said he could "understand his frustration" and would "find out what's gone wrong and come back to him".

NHS England told the BBC that it was not aware of any intervention in the project at the moment.

Plans for the long-awaited health centre were approved in April, with Assura appointed as the site's developer.

BOB ICB said since then "efforts have focused" on how Assura would be "reimbursed".

"At present, the reimbursement mechanism proposed by the developer does not align with the national Premises Cost Directions, which set out the parameters under which the NHS is able to reimburse the future providers of the GP services for the cost of renting the new building from the developer," BOB ICB explained.

"This could make it difficult for the ICB to find organisations to rent the building and provide the NHS services," it added.