Questions and Answers about Knights Surgery relocation from 5 Dec 2022
1. Where is the new Knights Surgery building?
Knights Surgery is moving to a demountable building next to Basildon Sporting Village, at the northern end of Gloucester Park off Cranes Farm Road, Basildon. This is much closer to the surgery’s original building in Knights, Basildon than its temporary location in Fryerns Medical Centre.
The new address is: Knights Surgery, Basildon Sporting Village, Cranes Farm Road, Basildon, Essex, SS
2. How do you get to the new building from Knights?
The journey from the original premises to the new site takes 16 minutes on foot or 6 minutes by car (with on-site parking available).
There will be a new minibus service between Knights and Basildon Sporting Village, with several local stop-offs on the route, once the new building opens. The timetable is available on our website’s “News” page.
- Why does the surgery have to move?
Its original premises in Knights, Basildon, developed structural defects so Knights Surgery began sharing Fryerns Medical Centre with another GP practice. This has meant Lee Chapel North residents registered with Knights Surgery have had to travel more than three miles for face-to-face appointments.
To provide the best possible service to patients and offer staff a better working environment, the practice is moving to a modern building, offering more space and flexibility, much closer to where most people registered at Knights Surgery live. The site next door to Basildon Sporting Village also makes a wider variety of wellbeing services easily available. The local NHS and Basildon Council both support the move.
- What does this mean for people registered with Knights Surgery?
It will mean that from Monday 5 December 2022 all GP appointments and other services currently accessed from Knights Surgery’s current premises in Fryerns Medical Centre will instead be delivered from a new building next to Basildon Sporting Village.
All patients will remain registered with Knights Surgery and be seen by the same members of the team as usual. You do not need to register elsewhere and there will be no changes to the services provided by the practice.
Knights Surgery is working with Basildon Council and other parts of the NHS to make sure people who need to know about these changes are kept up to date.
- Will I still be able to see the same doctors and nurses?
Yes, you will continue to see the same practice staff that you currently do and access appointments in the same way.
- Do I have to do anything?
No, you do not need to do anything for the move. You will remain a registered patient of Knights Surgery and you do not have to register elsewhere.
- Will any contact details be changing?
The practice’s new address will be Knights Surgery, Basildon Sporting Village, Cranes Farm Road, Basildon, Essex, SS14 3GR but its telephone number and website address will not change.
- How can I find out more?
The practice wants to give local people a chance to ask questions about the move but we hope this document will tell you most of what you need to know. You can also answer a few questions on our practice survey which can be found on this website under “News”.
If you would like to talk to the Patient Participation Group about this proposal, please let us know at reception.knight@nhs.net or you can contact the practice on reception.knight@nhs.net or by calling 01268 415888.
If you need this question-and-answer document in another format such as large print, Easy Read, braille, audio, or another language, please let us know by contacting us using the above details.
- Wasn’t this move meant to happen in June?
Unfortunately a gas main not showing up on local plans was discovered during the initial work to build our new premises and the initial moving date of 27 June 2022 had to be postponed while our builder and Basildon Borough Council made sure it would be safe to continue with construction. We eventually received access to the premises on 21 November 2022.
- Do I need to know anything else?
The building going up next to the sporting village is a Portakabin, not a permanent structure, so while it is suitable for 21st century GP services, Knights Surgery will eventually have a permanent building that might be somewhere else.
In the meantime, the practice is working with Basildon Sporting Village, the borough council and the wider NHS to offer Knights patients the opportunity to make best use of the health and wellbeing facilities and classes at the sports village. This innovative approach of combining NHS care with sports and leisure facilities to improve health outcomes for local people is a first for our area.
