Plans to build an isolated consulting room at a Woodbridge surgery have been given the go-ahead.

Little St John’s Surgery in Woodbridge applied for planning permission for the room, thought to be the first of its kind in the area, earlier this year.

The isolated consulting room will see patients with potentially contagious illnesses use an exterior door to enter the room directly, without the need to pass through the main waiting room.

This would minimise the interaction they would have with other, potentially vulnerable, patients at the surgery and prevent the spreading of the condition they are presenting with.

Doctors will access the new room from the inside of the existing building and be able to put on or remove protective equipment as they passed between the two sections.

It is hoped that the addition to the surgery would be able to ensure the surgery could deal with any future epidemics, like flu.

The new building will mean the loss of some parking space.

Speaking in June, Dr Rajinder Sidhu, senior partner at the surgery said the application was based on the practice’s experiences in the past few months.

“We asked ourselves what we could do if there was a second wave or a worse situation in the winter,” said Dr Sidhu.

The idea they came up with was a separate consultation room which could be used should the situation worsen.

“We had to close the surgery during the recent months,” said Dr Sidhu.

“This way we can remain open and we can have it built with everything we need for infection control.”

The application received the approval of Woodbridge Town Council and has now been formally approved by planners.

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