MORE than 40 new jobs are to be created with the building of a new private medical centre in Stourbridge.

Dudley planners have now given approval to a scheme to build a new facility providing specialist healthcare on land to the north of Bradley Road near the Stourbridge Canal and River Stour.

The new Stourbridge Day Surgery Unit will be run by Ramsay Health Care and will include an operating theatre, outpatients suite, day case suite, physiotherapy suite, patient waiting area and administrative office space and car parking area with 73 spaces (42 visitor spaces and 31 staff spaces).

Located just 100 metres from the Lion Health surgery, the new facility will sit on a similar footprint to the former 20th century industrial building that once occupied the site as part of the old Stourbridge Rolling Mills, which was demolished by 2011.

The 1,220 sq metre building, which will front Bradley Road, is set to be a single storey development of modern design with shallow pitched roofs.

Landscaping and engineering works to raise the levels on and next to the site will also be included in the development along with flood alleviation works to the River Stour.

A design and access statement on Dudley's planning website says the development will create approximately 43 new full-time jobs and it "will seek to provide a new high quality, facility for the delivery of medical services within the local community".

It says the facility will be open 12 hours a day, six days a week, from 8am to 8pm Monday to Saturday, and adds that it will "provide a modern flexible design to suit changing medical practices" and "regenerate the local environment by improving the existing streetscape and further enhancing existing medical services within the area".

A spokesman for Ramsay Health Care said the facility will be an extension of West Midlands Hospital in Halesowen and it will provide treatment for pain management, urology, general surgery and eye care for private, insured and NHS patients within the local community and further afield.

She added: "This major development will also create new employment opportunities, with vacancies in nursing, nursing support, clinical, administration and support services, with many opportunities for training and professional development."

Lisa Powell, hospital director at West Midlands Hospital, will oversee the management of the new facility and believes it will not only meet the communities’ high demand for services but also become a community hub.

Ward councillor Nic Barlow said: "I think it's a really fantastic opportunity for the area - not just Bradley Road but the whole of Stourbridge to have a huge organisation such as Ramsay Health Care take an interest in Stourbridge.

"From having visited their Colman Hill site at Halesowen - where they are at capacity, to have a facility like that replicated here is going to be wonderful."

He said it was "great" that work was finally starting and he added: "I don't think there'll be a huge problem with traffic; as long as it tidies up the area - it's got to be welcomed by the residents. I'm sure they'll be pleased to see that eyesore cleared and disappearing."

The new facility is due to open in July 2020.