Labour MP for Hitchin, Alistair Strathern, has met with doctors and staff at the Lower Stondon GP Surgery to find out more detail about their plans for expansion, and to hear first hand about the challenges facing primary care settings.

With pressures on the practice from growth in the area, Mr Strathern has called on local stakeholders, including Central Bedfordshire Council and the local Integrated Care Board, to work together at pace to deliver on long-promised plans to expand the GP surgery.

With funding and land allocated, the clock is ticking to ensure the much-needed expansion can be finalised within the timescales required by section 106 agreements. 

One of Mr Strathern's five pledges for the new Hitchin constituency is doing everything he can to expand access to healthcare locally, and working with local stakeholders to ensure important expansions are delivered as a key part of his plan to deliver on this.

Commenting, Alistair Strathern MP said: "For too long our communities in Lower Stondon have suffered without adequate GP provision. One of my five priorities for our constituency is making sure we can get a doctor and a dentist when we need it. Key to this is unlocking new capacity.

"I was pleased to meet with doctors and staff from Lower Stondon GP surgery to support their expansion plans which had previously been put on hold due to Covid.

"With land and S106 now allocated, it is crucial that Central Bedfordshire Council and the ICB work together at pace, to ensure this finally gets over the line."