A NEW GP super-surgery for Cinderford has been given the go ahead, and is set to open seven days a week from 7am to 8pm.

The new £5.2m medical centre will be built opposite the Co-op store at the town’s enterprise park on Valley Road, and will be leased to the two medical practises which have outgrown their shared Dockham Road premises.

With the Forest population predicted to rise by 5,000 by 2031 and the surgeries already seeing a huge growth in patient lists, the move from the 41-year-old purpose-built Cinderford Health Centre building is deemed vital to keep pace with demand.

The new building, which will house 42 staff, will include a central shared atrium with two reception areas and two wings, and will be leased to the Dockham Road and Forest Health Care practises.

The building will be eco-friendly with the south-facing roof covered in solar power cells to power the whole surgery and contribute spare power to the National Grid.

The centre will also include car parking for 98 vehicles and storage space for staff and patients’ bicycles.

Cinderford is set to become a health hub, with the town nominated by NHS bosses earlier this year as the preferred location for a new standalone Forest hospital.

NHS Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group Primary Care director Helen Goodey said: “The primary care commissioning committee approved the business case for he medical centre in January 2018 and fully supports the planning application.

“The new centre will be a modern, purpose-built facility that will enable docotors, nurses and other healthcare professionals to offer a broader range of services to patients than the existing, outdated and cramped facilities can support.

“It also promises to offer an attractive work environment for GPs and practice teams.

“We are pleased that the development is moving forward and that patients and staff look set to benefit from fantastic new premises.”

The Forest Council planning committee approved the Assura healthcare building company’s scheme at a meeting on Tuesday, November 13, after vice-chair Cllr Maria Edwards (Tidenham, Forest First) said: “It’s a no brainer. There is a bus station outside, it will create jobs and we badly need to regenerate this eyesore brownfield site.”

Work is expected to start on the new centre in March 2019 and will take around 12 months.