The Mayor of Wandsworth Cllr Jim Maddan officially opened the Putney Medical Centre, 125 Upper Richmond Road, SW15 2TL on 12th December. He was joined by Justine Greening (MP), along with guests from Wandsworth Teaching Primary Care Trust.

The Putney Medical Centre comprises a former unoccupied three storey office building at 125 Upper Richmond Road which was acquired from Wandsworth Borough Council and converted into its new role by London based Medicentre Developments PLC.

Commenting on the completion of the new centre Peter Scott, Managing Director of Medicentre, said 'We are pleased to have played a part in creating this fine new medical centre for Putney. Full benefit of the advances in modern health-care can only be realised if delivered from premises that are suitably configured and equipped, and many parts of the country are poorly served. We are delighted with the outcome in this case which was a team effort. Everyone involved in the development, including Wandsworth Teaching Primary Care Trust, contributed hugely to making this a state of the art facility which is now ready to serve the Putney community for many years to come.'

The medical centre is made up of three parties, the Heathbridge Practice NHS and Private GP, Physio4life Ltd and Harmoni. All are separate entities, working together to support the local community.

The Heathbridge Practice moved into the Putney Medical centre in May of this year, striving to provide community based primary care of the highest standard . The Heathbridge Practice is the largest General Practice in Putney and Roehampton providing both NHS and Private Primary Care. Having outgrown the premises at 327 Upper Richmond Road and 170 Putney Bridge Road and, after a long search for suitable premises, the site at 125 Upper Richmond Road was identified by Medicentre PLC. With the help and support of Wandsworth Teaching Primary Care Trust, and after 18 months of design, planning and seeking appropriate permissions, building work started in December 2005, and finished on schedule in May 2006.

The Heathbridge Practice provide purpose built modern medical facilities, with a spacious waiting room, separate child and quiet waiting areas, individual consulting rooms for each of the seven doctors and three nurses. On the first floor are a further two consulting rooms and two minor operation suites, along with our offices, a library and seminar room. The Heathbridge are soon to start offering Consultant based services from the first floor including early pregnancy/ antenatal -scanning and Ear,Nose and Throat consultations.

Physio4life Ltd is a Physiotherapy, Sports Medicine and Health Clinic, voted best new business by the Wandsworth Chamber of Commerce 2005 Health and Beauty category. Founded in 2003, Physio4life relocated its whole business and staff from Putney Wharf to the Putney Medical Centre in order to provide even greater facilities, opening hours, and flexibility for clients. Commenting on the relocation, Mark Saunders, Company Director,said ‘Physio4life is now one of the largest physiotherapy clinics in the country, providing the very best in facilities, rehabilitation gymnasium and Pilates studio. The expansion into a true medical centre enables us to provide our clients with the best possible treatment working alongside sports medicine doctors and other practitioners.’

Harmoni has provided high quality, reliable GP out of hours services to the patients of Wandsworth since 2004. Throughout their partnership with Wandsworth Teaching PCT, Harmoni has developed innovative solutions to reduce the number of A&E admissions and improve patient access and service availability. In light of this success, Wandsworth Teaching PCT have commissioned additional services from Harmoni including; message handling for district nurses and GP practices, rostering of doctors and arranging appointments for the ‘Primary Extra’ scheme, plus the provision of doctors into Wandsworth prison and Tooting Walk-in Centre. Furthermore, Harmoni now acts as a ‘Single Point of Contact’ for Intermediate Care which has made a positive difference to the healthcare of Wandsworth’s population. Edmund Jahn, Managing Director said “We are extremely proud of our services in Wandsworth, we feel that the excellent care provided to local patients is a testament to the partnership working between ourselves, the PCT and local stakeholders”