Chorley Council hands over new surgery building to Whittle GP Practice

The new building for Whittle GP Surgery is now complete and has been officially handed over to the GP Practice by Chorley Council.

The new modern facility has 10 consulting rooms and two treatment rooms accompanied by spacious and comfortable patient waiting areas and accessible facilities. The building also boasts state of the art back-office areas with training rooms for staff with break out and wash facilities. 

The new development replaces the current Whittle GP surgery which has outgrown its current premises on Preston Road, unable to meet patient demand and with very limited car parking.

Chorley Council purchased the site with the view to allow the out-of-date GP to benefit from a brand-new fit-for-purpose facility. 

Councillor Alistair Bradley, Leader of Chorley Council said, "It is great to see the new surgery building completed in such a quick time and ready to open to provide high quality health care in Whittle-le-Woods. 

"It is another example of us investing in our villages and our commitment to enable easy access to healthcare for local residents. 

"The improved facilities will enable the Whittle GP Surgery to keep up with patient demand following the new housing developments in the area. We have listened to resident concerns and actively provided a solution with the delivery of this new surgery development."

The GP Surgery has been constructed to BREEAM Excellent standard which assesses buildings on their sustainability levels and has been awarded an A+ energy performance rating. The building, which was delivered by construction partners Rayner Rowen Construction Limited,  also includes solar panels and electric vehicle charging points. 

The new surgery will be open for patients from Monday 21 March and will be welcoming new registrations.

Dr Hem Desai of Whittle Surgery said: "Dr Fairhurst and I would like to thank Chorley Council for developing this exciting new surgery. This will enable us to continue to offer healthcare to our practice population in a modern fit for purpose environment. We would also like to thank Sir Lindsay Hoyle MP for his support."

The new medical facility has been built on the site of St. John's Church Hall which was demolished to make way for the new development that incorporates the GP Surgery, a community building for Clayton-Le-Woods Parish Council with ample car parking. 

The Church had a major task to locate the deeds to the site before being able to make it available for sale. The title deeds for the land were dated 1898 and after a four-year long search, were finally discovered in the Church archives.

Read more about the involvement of St John's Church