HOLMES Chapel Health Centre is looking to create new consulting rooms by extending its London Road premises.

Planning permission is being sought by the Holmes Chapel Group Practice for the building, which is aimed at tackling lack of space in the current consulting rooms.

The centre has a growing practice population of about 12,300 patients, served by an extended Primary Health Care Team including doctors, practice and community nurses, reception staff, physiotherapists and health visitors.

The practice said most of the consulting rooms at the centre were too small, with modern standards requiring enough space to manoeuvre wheelchairs and accommodate a carer.

The rooms also needed to have space for the doctor, registrar and possibly a carer/chaperone.

“Some of the problem can be met by amalgamating consulting rooms with adjacent examination rooms,” said a report accompanying the planning application.

“While this provides rooms which are large enough it does reduce the overall number of examination/consulting rooms.

“This scheme therefore aims to provide the enlarged rooms required, and gives sufficient space for an increase in training doctors, as one of the senior partners is now the co-ordinator for East Cheshire GP training.”

The proposed 196 square-metre extension would provide three new consulting rooms.

The report added: “It also continues to allow specialist consultants and ancillary services to have their own dedicated location, together with a dedicated area for resuscitation.”

The extension is proposed as a single storey, flat-roofed building, and would occupy part of the mature garden area at the centre.

None of the mature hedges which offer substantial screening of the centre would be affected by the extension.

The report said car parking at the centre was due to be improved by the introduction of the Parking Eye system, in an effort to discourage the use of the centre car park by shoppers visiting the shopping mall next door, which happened regularly.

Public comments on the planning application, reference 19/1320C, can be made on the Cheshire East Council planning portal until April 4, and May 10 is the target date for the authority to take a decision on the scheme.