Are you registered with Crocus Medical Practice? We want your views

For anyone registered with Crocus Medical Practice

NHS West Essex Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is working with Crocus Medical Practice on a move to Saffron Walden Community Hospital. This survey asks some questions about how this might impact patients and what is important to you.

We have designed a document short survey (54 KB) which will help us choose the best options for your needs.

It will only take a few minutes and we greatly value your views.

Completing the survey

You can download the survey online for completion and:

Return to the practice for us to collect
Email the electronic survey to us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Post back to West Essex CCG at Building 4 Spencer Close, St Margaret’s Hospital, The Plain, Epping, Essex CM16 6TN

We need your completed surveys returned to us by Monday 20 October.

Drop-in sessions

We are also holding some drop-in sessions which you can see on our Facebook page.

Frequently asked questions

We have pulled together a few answers to questions which you may have. This list is not exhaustive so please do get in touch if you have further questions.

Crocus Medical Practice operates from two sites about 4 miles apart:

The main site at The Old Rectory, 18 Castle Street, Saffron Walden, CB10 1BP – and

High Street, Great Chesterford, CB10 1PL which is the branch site

The existing practice at The Old Rectory in Castle Street is an established GP Practice with over 12,000 patients. Since it first opened, the town and surrounding areas have become more developed and the patient population has grown considerably. Further housing development in the area means the population is increasing rapidly.

The Old Rectory is a listed building which inhibits the further development of the site and parking at the practice is also limited. Whilst some work has been undertaken where possible, the current site is at full capacity with little or no opportunity to improve and extend the practice.

What is the change?

West Essex CCG with Crocus Medical Centre is exploring the possibility of moving The Old Rectory main practice to Saffron Walden Community Hospital. This would give the practice a newly bespoke refurbished practice site within the community hospital. The branch at Great Chesterford will remain open with no changes to the service delivered from that site.

Why the change is being made?

The existing building is privately owned and the present practice hold a lease for occupation. The practice has the opportunity to end the lease in 2020 which would enable the move into bigger, more modern premises, give the practice the physical capacity to employ more clinicians and to provide more services for the local community which is rapidly growing.

Currently Saffron Walden Community Hospital, which is an NHS building, is underutilised and there is a possibility that funding will be available to completely refurbish and redesign Curlew Wing for the GP Practice. This would mean that the practice could integrate with other services already in the hospital and provide a hub for the delivery of health services for the local community. It would make best use of existing NHS premises and provide value for money for the taxpayer.

What will the benefits be?

The practice is currently unable to grow and develop to meet local need and has had difficulty recruiting clinicians as there is no additional space to accommodate any more staff. The benefits of moving the practice into a newly refurbished site with the community hospital are:

New modern facilities that will meet current building regulations and health requirements
Ability to recruit more staff
Better experience and access for patients
Opportunity to provide more both more capacity and more services
Integration with other community health services already sited within the hospital
Additional free parking on site
Making best use of NHS Estate resources

What will it mean for patients and public?

The community hospital is approximately one mile from the existing practice site either by car or on foot. Although this may mean that for some patients their practice will be further away, for a similar number of patients it will mean that the practice is closer to them. There will be more free parking spaces available at the hospital than there are currently available at The Old Rectory for patients that are able to drive to their practice.

Public transport is available and if the move does go ahead the CCG will work with the local transport providers to encourage more routes to be available to and from the hospital.

There are also Community Transport services available to provide transport for people who:

have restricted mobility
are unable to use public transport
live in isolated areas not served by public transport, or,
have transport needs not met by existing timetables

When will this happen?

Funding is available in principle but needs to be formally agreed through a business case process with NHS England. Planning permission also needs to be approved and once both of these things have happened the projected time for the practice to be able to move into the new premises is early autumn 2020. There would be no disruption to services for patients during the development of the new practice at the hospital and the move would take place over a weekend with minimal closure time for the practice.

What are the next steps?

West Essex CCG and Crocus Medical Centre want patients to be involved and informed of the proposed change. Meetings will be held to ensure that there is an opportunity to engage with the patients and residents in Saffron Walden and specifically the Crocus Practice of the planned location change, and why the change is happening. The meetings scheduled for engagement are:

Wednesday 9 October at 6.30pm to 8.30pm at Crocus Medical Practice

Tuesday 15 October at 1pm to 3pm at Outpatients Department, Saffron Walden Community Hospital

There will also be an opportunity to talk to a West Essex CCG representative in the practice whilst flu clinics are being held:

5 October 8am to 12 noon
19 October 8am to 12 noon

What happens going forward?

Both the practice and the CCG will be sharing information on the progress of the project and once funding and planning permission has been agreed there will be further updates for patients and the local community.

If you would like to discuss the proposals please do not hesitate to contact the practice if you are a registered patient. There is also a patient survey, see link above.