EMERSONS Green Medical Centre will reopen in September, after being shut for almost two years.
The surgery in St Luke’s Close, which has more than 11,000 patients on its books, closed suddenly in October 2024 when the building’s water and heating failed.
Now Green Valleys Health, the GP partnership that runs the practice, has said it will reopen in early September, following the installation of new water and heating systems.
A practice spokesperson said: “We would like to sincerely apologise for the length of time the site has been closed.
“We understand that this has caused inconvenience for many of our patients, and we are extremely grateful for the patience, understanding and support you have shown throughout this period.
“The work carried out has been essential to ensure the building provides a safe, comfortable, and reliable environment for both our patients and our staff.
“While the closure has been longer than any of us would have wished, these improvements are an important investment in the future of the practice and the service we are able to provide to our patients within the neighbourhood.
“We would also like to thank our dedicated staff and our Patient Participation Group for their continued support during the closure. Their flexibility, understanding and commitment have helped us to continue delivering care while these essential works have been completed.”
The practice said more information about appointments and services would be shared with patients closer to the reopening date.
It thanked patients for their “continued patience and support”.
Since the closure Green Valleys Health has been running services for Emersons Green patients from Leap Valley Surgery in Downend.
Councillors on South Gloucestershire Council’s health scrutiny committee raised concerns that some patients had trouble reaching the other surgery, and that waiting times for appointments had gone up.
The work took place after a long process of negotiating funding. In October last year, the health scrutiny committee was told work was expected to start the following month, and take six weeks.
But it wasn’t until April of this year that Green Valleys Health confirmed it had reached an agreement with Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board (ICB), which is in charge of funding NHS services, for work to start.
The Voice asked whether the reopening of the medical centre would enable patients to be seen more quickly, after waits of more than two weeks for appointments were were reported by 45% of patients in this year’s NHS GP Patient Survey.
A spokesperson said: “We recognise that timely access is important to patients. Appointments are triaged by the clinical team to ensure we manage urgent on the day and routine appointments appropriately.”