Theresa Villiers, MP for Chipping Barnet, has welcomed the news that East Barnet Health Centre is on track to reopen very soon, following completion of its £1m upgrade on time today. The East Barnet GPs will be given access to the building later today and it is hoped that the health centre will open for patients in the near future.
Theresa Villiers said "It is great news that East Barnet Health Centre will be reopening very soon. Along with local residents, I have been campaigning for many months for this to happen. Yesterday one of the last potential blockages was removed when NHS Property Services and the East Barnet GPs agreed key items of legal documentation relating the centre."
"It's likely to take a just a little longer to ensure the centre is ready for patients. It isn't clear yet exactly when that will happen. There may be extra work which the GPs will need to take forward, for example on phone connections, before the centre can open for business. But the important news is that reopening will not be held up by the kind of protracted legal wrangle that saw a brand new Brunswick Park Health Centre stay closed for months. I warmly welcome the efforts made both by NHSPS and the GPs to prevent this happening."
EDIT: The date for patient services moving to the practice has now been confirmed as Monday 19th October.