Private clinic set to bring 52 new jobs to South Ribble

Councillors are expected to approve the scheme to construct the medical facility on the Matrix Business Park at Buckshaw Village with the promise of 52 skilled jobs.

WW Medical Facilities of North Yorkshire want to build the clinic on land off Eaton Avenue. And council officers are recommending approval at tonight’s planning committee, subject to a list of 21 conditions.

A report to the committee says four letters of objection have been received concerning traffic congestion and parking in the area.

The plans show the clinic will only treat day cases, with two theatres and an outpatients’ clinic comprising two assessment rooms, two treatment suites and five consulting rooms.

It will also have a physiotherapy area with eight bays and a gym. And a mobile MRI scanner suite will be parked at the rear of the building - similar to the breast screening scanner on the council’s own car park - with access from an external staircase.

The report says: “The proposed medical facility will be for day patients requiring minor procedures. It would be operated by a private medical provider.

"There would be no emergency facilities, or overnight accommodation. And the unit would create 52 skilled posts.

“Hours of operation are proposed as 8am to 9pm Monday to Sunday, but the unit may occasionally be used outside these hours.”

The report adds the clinic would “create employment, support both local economy and local healthcare provision, upgrades an untidy site to the benefit of the area’s amenity and ultimately would be beneficial to the community it serves.”