Position Statements

Healthcare at Welborne

The consent for Welborne requires the development to provide all the primary medical and healthcare facilities that its residents will require. This requirement is secured by a legal obligation signed by Fareham Borough Council and the developers of Welborne. Welborne has always been committed to building a surgery and pharmacy in the early years of construction. The decision about when this surgery becomes operational is a decision for the NHS Hampshire & Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board (ICB), which is currently carrying out a thorough assessment of local patient demand and allocation. For example, the ICB may decide that the first Welborne residents would initially be best served by surrounding surgeries with existing capacity for additional patients.

 Welborne is part of the ‘Welborne Health Steering Group,’ which is a group set up to include key stakeholders such as NHS/ICB and Fareham Borough Council to meet regularly to ensure momentum is maintained to deliver the right facilities at the right time. Local GP surgeries are also invited.

 The ICB is also liaising with Wickham surgery which has indicated that it will be able to accommodate some of the initial Welborne residents without affecting the level of service for their current patients. The surgery has also said that the catchment boundary should subsequently be redrawn to safeguard the surgery capacity beyond this initial intake of new patients, which Welborne supports. As the first phase of the development does not yet have planning consent, we would recommend that the ICB decides on the new boundaries once the planning consent has been approved.

 Welborne is committed to onsite provision of primary medical and healthcare facilities for its residents, subject to the necessary ICB approvals. Following the provision of the initial surgery and pharmacy in the first construction phase, a larger healthcare facility will be built as the community expands