NEW housing developments in Salisbury should only go ahead if backed by new or expanded GP services, according to a new campaign launched by local Liberal Democrats.

Campaigner Cllr Victoria Charleston is calling for a “GP guarantee” to ensure healthcare provision keeps pace with rapid housing growth across the city and surrounding areas.

The move follows analysis by the party which claims GP surgeries in Salisbury are now serving an average of 1,340 additional homes each compared to 2015 – a rise of 34.5%.

The Lib Dems say this reflects a wider national trend, with around 1,300 GP surgeries closing across the country over the past decade.

Salisbury has seen significant development in recent years, with large new housing areas built on the outskirts of the city.

While some GP services have expanded, campaigners argue that dedicated facilities have not always been delivered within new communities.

Under the proposals, developers would be required to fund new or expanded GP surgeries and help ensure services are in place as soon as the first homes are occupied.

This could include guaranteeing contracts or covering the cost of salaried GPs during the early stages of new developments.

Cllr Charleston said: “There has never been a harder time to be a patient in Salisbury, with health services overstretched and NHS targets routinely missed.

“Our doctors and NHS teams work incredibly hard, but our area badly needs investment into our local services, including GPs, to cut waiting times and get people they care they desperately need.

“In communities across the country such as Salisbury, when new housing is built, GPs are promised but not delivered – this must end. Councils and local communities should be given the powers to hold developers’ feet to the fire and demand the local doctors’ surgeries we so badly need.

“That’s why I’m launching a campaign to get our local NHS back on track, by building and delivering the services our communities need and ensuring new homes always go hand in hand with more GPs.”

The proposal forms part of a wider push for an “infrastructure first” approach to development, with healthcare provision highlighted as a key concern for growing communities.