PLANS to open a new health centre in Crayford have been given the green light.

A planning application to convert existing retail space in Crayford High Street into a GP led health centre was approved at a Bexley Council planning committee on Thursday (JUNE 12).

The centre is expected to open next month, providing a normal GP surgery for up to 6,000 registered patients and walk-in-services for up to 10,000 non-registered patients by the end of its first year.

The centre will open from 7am until 8pm on weekdays and 8am until 8pm at weekends.

It will be run by a team of up to five GPs and will provide four consulting rooms and a waiting area.

There are already plans to open a medical centre in Crayford town centre, at the Town Hall site in Crayford Road, but the centre in Crayford High Street will be the first in the borough to offer a drop in service seven days a week.

The planning application was submitted by Mr Yashwant Patel, on behalf of Seldoc South East London’s Co-operative, who was unavailable to comment.

The GP co-operative which operates from Dulwich Hospital provides out-of-hours general medical services to patients.

Bexley Care Trust will provide the costs to the run the centre after receiving funding from the Department of Health.

The care trust was unable to disclose the amount of money it received.

It follows a government announcement to invest £250m into supporting primary care trusts nation wide to create at least one new health centre in each primary care trust area.

A spokesperson for the Bexley Care Trust, said: “Bexley Care Trust, in common with all other primary care trust’s in England, is participating in the government’s scheme, Equitable Access to Primary Medical Care, to deliver a GP led health centre in every primary care trust in the country.

“This programme is to address the needs of patients in meeting the government’s access and choice agendas and Bexley Care Trust has determined that that need is most pressing in the north of Bexley borough."