Breaking ground on new building at town’s hospital

ONE of Somerset's smaller hospitals will be expanded to allow more patients to be treated in the coming months.

- DANIEL MUMBY Local democracy journalist

The Practice Plus Group Hospital is located on Bucklers Way on the western edge of Shepton Mallet, a stone's throw from the town’s NHS community hospital.

The hospital provides treatment for both NHS and private patients, offering a range of services including hip and knee replacements.

The hospital group has now begun construction on a modular extension, which will open later this year as part of the hospital's 20th anniversary celebrations.

The new building will house five consulting rooms and two fully equipped procedure rooms, creating “a more patient-friendly environment” for minor treatments and outpatients.

The development will free up operating theatres for more orthopaedic surgeries like hip and knee replacements with the overall number of surgeries being carried out expected to rise by 20 per cent by Christmas.