Re: Surbiton Hospital. I was very glad to read that Messrs Baker and Bell have organised a petition.
This gives the people of Surbiton an opportunity to voice their opinion.
A recent meeting which I attended at Oakhill Centre - at which Dr Moore took the chair - left me with more questions than answers.
The redevelopment of Surbiton Hospital does not benefit the hospital at all.
It is a grandiose scheme for the benefit of the doctors at the Oakhill Centre.
The hospital, under the new scheme, will still have the same number of beds with low-tech medical facilities as at present.
The difference will be that patients will have to endure noise, car fumes and a constant stream of people (we were told at the meeting about 160,000 per annum) attending the three surgeries in question.
The developer is proposing a 25 year lease-back for this new scheme.
What will happen after 25 years? Who has heard of a hospital being built for such a short period of time?
Why should valuable space be taken up by coffee bar/health food shop and a pharmacy when all these facilities are well served in the local area?
I understand the developer is prepared to put about £6 million into this project, but for a fraction of this money the hospital could be refurbished.
If the doctors at Oakhill Centre require more space, the Health Authority using the upper floor could be relocated.
I would urge the people of Surbiton to think carefully before it is too late.
L TAYLOR
Ewell Road
Surbiton
Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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