9:19am Monday 14th July 2008
By David Jackman
PLANS to redevelop the Ongar War Memorial Hospital site with a multi-purpose health centre are being welcomed by the town council.
Demolishing the Fyfield Road building and providing a multi-million-pound health centre is seen by West Essex Primary Care Trust as the only way of solving numerous primary healthcare issues.
The premises which are occupied by the town's two doctors surgeries - in the High Street and Bansons Lane - are cramped and of poor standard for modern healthcare needs while the 75-year-old hospital building, with no single rooms, does not meet current standards for dignity, privacy and infection control.
The new health centre would offer a range of clinics and health services which are not currently available in Ongar while also providing facilities for the town's doctors and community nurses.
The 14-in-patient beds, most of which are currently not occupied by Ongar residents, would be moved to the new Epping Forest Unit at St Margaret's Hospital, in Epping.
The town council's concerns - which were also raised at two public meetings - centre on parking and the need for the primary care trust to have "robust arrangements" for continuing to provide services locally while the development work takes place.
The town council has already written to bus company Arriva asking if its routes could be extended to the leisure centre, so that there is a regular service to the hospital site opposite.
Town councillor David Solomons said: "I can't see any downside to these proposals other than the issue of parking."
The primary care trust is set to make a final decision on the plans at its board meeting in September.
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