New one-stop shop for private healthcare will open seven days a week

One Stop Doctors will be a 20,000 sq ft flagship diagnostics centre complete with the latest medical equipment designed to deliver ‘modern, flexible healthcare’ and ‘give patients a choice’.

Initially, the £10million centre will offer GP, dentistry and physiotherapy facilities, alongside specialist services in orthopaedics, cardiology, gastroentorology, urology, neurology, gynaecology and pathology.

Chief executive Ella Tracey said: “We will have everything under one roof – we want our patients to come to us lock, stock and barrel.

“Say someone has a bump or a bruise they are concerned about – they will be able to make a GP appointment, have an x-ray the same day, and collect medicine from our immediate needs pharmacy on site.

“We are going to make it completely patient-centric, and that’s not always the case in the NHS, because it is under so much pressure.”

There will be 24 rooms for consultation, private GPs, MRI scans, CT scans, physiotherapy, x-ray, dental practice, ultrasound, nurses, healthcare assistants and aesthetics.

Though the clinic – which will employ 120 staff in total – will be private, Ella says the service will be ‘affordable’ and offers patients a choice about their healthcare.

She said: “People can choose to self-fund, or use private healthcare insurance.

“We respect peoples’ right to use the NHS, but we want to be here to pick up the bits they do want us for.”

A consultation with one of the 15 private GPs will cost £90, and One Stop is currently in talks over contracts with private healthcare providers such as Aviva, Axa and Bupa.

The majority of the clinics records and correspondence will be paperless, and consultation rooms are also being wired up to enable live video conference appointments.

In terms of recruitment, Ella says they are ‘60 per cent there’ and taking the time to hire the cream of the crop when it comes to medical professionals.

One example is Emma James, of Emma James Physiotherapy, which is an established practice based in Hemel’s Old Town.

She will be head of physiotherapy and rehabilitation at the One Stop site.

Ella has a wealth of experience in the sector, having set up her own retail aesthetics company 10 years ago.

The mum-of-one, who lives in Beaconsfield, said: “We want to look after the patients from start to finish and make their journey as painless as possible – even if we are 
doing some painful like injecting you at the end of it!”

The building work is due to be completed at the end of June, and Ella is expecting a visit from the Care Quality Commission in mid-July.

The clinic’s grand opening is set to be early September.

The venture is being backed by the same private investors that have links with Hemel companies Bourne Leisure and the Snow Centre.

Ella, who has worked as a marketing director for both Pret-A-Manger and Tchibo, said: “We have the opportunity to do this right with this type of investment.

“We are starting from scratch and building something that’s fit for purpose, with a team of the very best medical professionals.”

For more, visit www.onestopdoctors.co.uk