COULSDON's main doctors' surgery could be moving up to Cane Hill as part of the looming redevelopment of the town.
Woodcote Group Practice's long-held ambition to upgrade its Coulsdon surgery is part of development plans for Cane Hill and Coulsdon now being crystallised.
The practice deals with on average 1,573 patients each week at its modest premises in Chipstead Valley Road, Coulsdon, and Foxley Lane, Purley.
The surgeries will stretched further by the 650 homes planned to be built on Cane Hill over the next five to ten years.
Nan Nobes, manager of the practice, said: "For some years the practice has been involved in discussions about the Cane Hill/Lion Green Road site with a view to possibly relocating our branch surgery there, should there be redevelopment of the site. As yet nothing has been decided.
"Our surgery at Coulsdon is too small for our requirements and not entirely fit for purpose and we would like to take advantage of new premises, should they be available and at a cost we can afford."
Richard Thurbon, chairman of the Coulsdon West Residents' Association (CWRA), said the surgeries desperately needed more space, even before Cane Hill's redevelopment.
He said: "The silly thing is there is no shortage of GPs in this area, it is just that they do not have enough space to serve their patients at the moment.
"So you find them shuttling backwards and forwards between their Coulsdon and Purley surgeries."
He added that both doctors and the residents' association are pushing for an expanded surgery in order to offer more services, reducing the need for Coulsdon patients to travel further afield.
Mr Thurbon said: "We are chronically short of certain things such as phlebotomy testing, the sorts of things you might have to travel to Croydon University Hospital or Mayday Hospital for, where it can be difficult to get an appointment."
CWRA committee member Peter Appleford added that it was not hard to get an appointment at the Coulsdon surgery, but the premises were a little run down.
Barratt Homes, the developer of Cane Hill, is holding regular meetings with representatives from residents' associations and other local services to finalise plans for Cane Hill and Coulsdon.
The Coulsdon Masterplan they shape will then be put out for public consultation.
A draft masterplan was published last year and can be viewed on Croydon Council's website.
Barratt is expected to submit an application for planning permission for Cane Hill by summer next year.
