A new medical campus has been given the go-ahead by councillors, with hopes the facilities will help reduce waiting times across the district.

A GP practice, care home, assisted living building and nursery are set to be built at Westwood, near Ramsgate, under the banner of Westwood Health Campus.

The Grange surgery, in Ramsgate, will move into the new GP practice space, allowing them to expand their patient list and ultrasound service.

The Grange will also offer out-of-hospital clinics, thereby reducing waiting times.

Thanet District Council (TDC), approved an outline application for the scheme, off New Haine Road, on June 26.

During the planning committee meeting, Chris Pragenell of Quinn Estates, which submitted the plans, said: “The proposal provides the district a unique opportunity to provide a specialist health campus.

“The scheme includes a new primary care facility delivered in conjunction with both The Grange practice and NHS Kent and Medway.”

He stressed the facility “will significantly increase care provision and patient-doctor access in the area.”

He also read a statement from Julie Hill, practice manager at The Grange in Ramsgate.

In it, she said the practice will more than double their floorspace, as they move out of the outdated premises at Montefiore Medical Centre, in Dumpton Park Drive.

The primary care facility will be 1,500 sq m spread over two floors, according to plan.

“A larger surgery will allow us to expand our patient list over the coming years and also to expand our ultrasound service which is offered to the whole of east Kent, reducing waiting times,” she added.

Chair of the committee Cllr Helen Crittenden (Lab) said East Cliff Practice, also in Ramsgate, is in negotiations with The Grange, to move into the Dumpton Park Drive site.

The campus will be comprised of 9,253 sq m of commercial floorspace, 70 assisted living flats, two retirement blocks of 90 flats, an 80- bed care home and a children’s nursery.

Some 34 new jobs will come with assisted living building, and 72 at the care home, a planning officer explained.

Cllr Marc Rattigan (Con) praised the plans, saying: “I think it’s a brilliant scheme.

“The biggest bug bear of people with development across Thanet is the lack of doctors and this is providing quite a big solution for that.”

The area around Westwood Cross shopping centre on the Isle of Thanet has been increasingly developed in recent years, with Cllr Mike Garner (Green) describing it in the meeting as a “new town.”

Cllr Steve Albon (Lab) praised the plans but did question whether the district has enough doctors.

Similarly, Cllr Rebecca Wing (Green) was supportive, but worried about how The Grange patients would adjust to the new location.

She said: “I do generally think this is a fabulous multi-use site that will cater for a range of needs.

“You’ve got the serious issue of those patients who’ve always gone to that surgery there [The Grange], who now need to go to this surgery here.

“It’s a relatively short distance but if you’ve tried to go along the Haine Road at certain times – it took me an hour to go along the Haine Road yesterday, my van overheated and I had to stop because it was just bumper to bumper.”

Following the approval of the scheme, planning officers will now work with the developers to make financial agreements about their contribution to local infrastructure, to mitigate the impact of the plans.

As an outline planning application, future proposals will come forward for detailed designs and plans.

In a statement after the meeting, Quinn Estates CEO Mark Quinn said: “Not only will this be an exemplary health campus which will enhance the healthcare provision for local people, it also represents significant employment opportunities.

“Alongside the jobs created by the medical campus, there will also be a significant boost in employment from the commercial element of the scheme.

“We’re also extremely proud that the scheme is 100% affordable housing, including an extra care facility for the most vulnerable members of the community. Quinn Estates is looking forward to bringing forward this project and making a real difference to the people of Thanet.”