Woodley care home would strain GP surgery, NHS warns

The NHS wants a financial contribution from developers to help surgeries cope with the added patients

GP surgeries would be put under "significant" pressure if plans to build a new care home were approved, the NHS has warned.

The 68-bedroom facility would be built on Woodley Green in Berkshire.

But the NHS body responsible for providing services across Wokingham borough said there were not enough consulting rooms in Woodley to cope with the new residents.

Loddon Vale GP practice in particular could be put under strain, it added.

Planning officers have recommended that Wokingham Borough councillors allow the care home to be built.

But Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board (BOB ICB) warned the area's health services were already under stress from other nearby planning applications.

Loddon Vale GP Surgery is near to where the new care home would be built

The ICB said Loddon Vale GP practice served a population of almost 15,000, with Woodley Centre GP serving just under 13,800 people.

It did not include details of each surgery's capacity, but predicted the care home would increase the population by 163, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

In a bid to ease pressure on local health services, it asked Wokingham Borough Council to secure a financial contribution of almost £59,000 from developers.

However, more evidence was needed from the NHS before this condition could be made, planning officers said.

Planning law meant demands for financial contributions had to be directly related to the scale of the development, they added.

Follow BBC South on Facebook, X, or Instagram. Send your story ideas to [e-mail] or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2240.