A TEDDINGTON GP surgery is seeking to move to the site of the town's former Police Station as it says its current premises are too small for its number of patients.

Park Road Surgery has more than 13,000 patients but says its home on 37 Park Road is suitable for just 3,380.

The GP practice has been looking for a new building for over 10 years. It says the problem "puts huge pressure on space" and means it can't cope when demand for appointments is high.

Now the surgery is urging patients and local residents to comment on Richmond Council's Local Plan to help its relocation bid.

A news release on the website read: "We need to act quickly to ensure our voices are heard so we can give the best service we can to you, our patients, over the coming years. Our aim is to relocate to the site of the Teddington Police Station.

"Please respond to Richmond's Local Plan consultation to support a new GP surgery for Park Road as part of the redevelopment of Teddington Police Station!"

It suggested that residents ask that "the Local Plan requires Park Road Surgery to be relocated there as part of any redevelopment" and "any planning consent makes the sale or lease of any residential units conditional on the occupation of the GP surgery."

The deadline to respond to the Local Plan ends today (31 January).

Responses can be submitted by downloading the consultation form or commenting directly on an online version of the Plan.

Find the Plan at https://richmond-consult.objective.co.uk/kse/event/36669/section/

In their own response to the Plan, the practice's partners wrote: "We are an NHS GP surgery which looks after just over 13,000 patients across a catchment area which includes the Teddington ward and part or all of the five neighbouring wards of Fulwell & Hampton Hill, Hampton, Hampton Wick, South Twickenham, and West Twickenham.

"Our existing premises is a converted Victorian house which should let us look after about 3,400 patients, meaning we are accommodating about 10,000 more patients than the building should; this is the highest number of excess patients for any surgery in the borough, and our urgent need to move premises is recognised in that we are top priority in the Richmond CCG Estates Strategy."

They added: "This matters because the Teddington Police Station is a large community asset in the centre of Teddington, and because ongoing residential development without corresponding healthcare development increases the pressures GP surgeries are under, and worsen the service available to patients. Park Road Surgery's existing building is operating at capacity all the time, with nowhere physically to put more staff to answer the phones or to see patients, nor to cope with spikes in demand like winter pressures.

"Physical access is terrible, particularly for those with buggies, or mobility difficulties, and half the consulting rooms are on the first floor. The increased pressure on appointments makes it harder to offer continuity of care, and longer waits have knock-on effects on walk-in and A&E services.

"We work hard to mitigate these factors, but we are at the limit of what we're able to do where we are."

Teddington Police station was permanently closed last year due to cuts by the Mayor of London.

Teddington's MP Munira Wilson called on the Mayor to halt the decision, highlighting the "real concern from local residents about crime in the Teddington area."

The former Police Station site is now on sale with the estate agents Knight Frank and offers are reportedly due by 10 February.