The multi-million-pound building is being built on the car park site on the corner of Friarsgate and Upper Brook Street, replacing the existing St Clement surgery on Tanner Street. Construction work began on 6 March with a ‘breaking ground’ event attended by MP Steve Brine; local actor, Tommy Jessop, and representatives from the practice, Winchester City Council, and the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board (ICB). Winchester City Council agreed to sell the site to a specialist in 2020 to enable the project to go ahead, with previous well-publicised efforts to deliver the scheme dating back over 15 years.

The surgery has around 17,000 registered patients and is currently based only a few hundred yards away from the new facility, so disruption to patients will be minimal. Specialist primary healthcare developer and long-term landlord, Assura, will be delivering the new facility. Jon Webb, development director at Assura, said: “We are delighted to play our part in taking this much-needed development forward and are excited to finally now move on to the construction phase the project. “There has been a huge group effort to get to this stage from all the local stakeholders and we are looking forward to providing regular updates as the project progresses.” Fay Johnson, practice manager at St Clements surgery, added: “This is a massive step forward and great news for both the staff and patients at St Clements. “Our current building is no longer fit for purpose and the new development will really allow us to continue improving care for our patients and to deliver the service we want to for people in Winchester.” The development will include 15 consulting rooms, three treatment rooms, admin facilities, and large reception and waiting areas.

The building also houses an interactive health hub, space for Primary Care Network services, a chiropractor, plus other ancillary health services. And expansion space has been built in to the design for additional services to be delivered from the building in the future. As part of the relocation to the new facility, the NHS and Assura have co-commissioned a study by Wessex Academic Health Science Network to assess the benefits the new facility will bring, with further research planned once the GPs have moved in and are seeing patients. Sustainability is also key to the design, with the ability to generate onsite energy through the installation of solar panels on the roof.