Up to £1m of funding for a new GP surgery for Abingdon remains unspent, it has emerged.

About 900 new homes are now being built off Twelve Acre Drive, including those at Radley Reach and Abbey Fields.

In total, just under 3,000 new homes have been approved for the Abingdon area as part of the Local Plan.

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As hundreds of new homes are built, it is putting increasing pressure on the four existing GP surgeries in town - Stert Street Surgery, the Malthouse Surgery, Long Medical Centre, and Marcham Road Family Health Centre.

Neil Fawcett, Vale of White Horse district councillor for Abingdon Caldecott, said Abingdon "desperately needed" a new GP surgery to cope with the growing number of residents.

Oxford Mail: About £1m of contributions from developers - known as section 106 funding was agreed for a satellite GP surgery on the North Abingdon site, and land identified.

But no GP surgery was willing or wanted to take on the project and it is understood that a proportion of that money may now help fund the expansion of the Long Furlong Medical Centre.

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Mr Fawcett said: "Pressure on local GP surgeries is immense, with some surgeries now limiting new patient applications and long waiting times for an appointment being a common experience.

"It is ridiculous that the NHS is unable to deliver GP facilities on new developments, even when the money for them has already been secured by the Vale District Council from developers.

Oxford Mail: Marcham Road Health Centre"With more and more people moving in, it's no wonder that local residents are concerned about the impact on local health services."

Long Furlong Medical Centre does appear to be closed to new patients, according to its website, which says under register as new patient': "Our list is currently closed to new patients."

A receptionist at the surgery said: "We are planning to open the list very soon but I can't give you a date."

Last year the medical centre announced plans for three additional consultation rooms and one new admin room to help cope with the growing number of people moving into the area.

Oxford Mail: Long Furlong Medical CentreAt the Malthouse Surgery, new patients are being told: "Due to several ongoing new build projects in the local area and an expanding Abingdon population we are not able to take on patients who are already registered at a local surgery, or let patients remain on our patient list if they live or move outside of these locations.

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"If you move location we will give you 28 days notice to register with a new practice supporting your new location after which you will no longer be registered with the Malthouse Surgery."

In September, planning permission was granted for an extension at Marcham Road Family Health Centre to address the need for increased GP capacity.

There will be a single-storey ground floor expansion at the back of the building to accommodate eight additional consultation rooms for GPs.

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About the author 

Andy is the Trade and Tourism reporter for the Oxford Mail and you can sign up to his newsletters for free here. 

He joined the team more than 20 years ago and he covers community news across Oxfordshire.

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