New health centre approved to ease NHS pressures

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead and Frimley Integrated Care Board are drawing up detailed financial plans for the new health centre

Plans for a new health centre to ease pressure on Bracknell NHS services have been approved by a council.

The Ascot Centre for Health will be built in Sunningdale to "support the expected growth in the local population".

A plan presented to council leaders at the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead (RBWM) said patients in Ascot were having to travel to Bracknell for some NHS services due to a lack of capacity at the current buildings.

Council leaders are now working through the financial details with local health officials and NHS England.

The plan said: "The Ascot population is one of the oldest in the country with a high number of care homes and senior assisted living in the area.

"This is placing an ever increasing demand on services.

"The lack of capacity has already resulted in some services including immunisations and vaccines, having to be provided from premises in Bracknell.

"Maternity and community services are also having to be delivered at multiple sites in Bracknell and this puts a pressure on Bracknell facilities as well."

The new health centre would be built in Sunningdale at a site not named in the public council plan.

It will provide new accommodation for two existing GP practices as well as "community, mental health and maternity services for the people of Ascot and surrounding areas".

It said both GP surgeries' current premises were too small and could not be upgraded to deliver modern services.

The new health centre will be built with NHS funding and managed by the Frimley Integrated Care Board (ICB).