PATIENTS and doctors celebrated yesterday at the unveiling of a expansion to a Bounds Green surgery which serves thousands of patients from Barnet.

The new wing at Bounds Green Group Practice was officially opened yesterday, giving doctors more space to practice and opening the centre up more to the local community.

The practice specialises in training up new doctors, as well as serving around 13,000 residents from Barnet, Enfield, and Haringey, and is hoping the extension will help it to expand its role in the community.

Toulla Trupia, practice manager, said: “The new wing allows us more room to train more people, to expand the training facilities that we have, and also to provide space for the community as well as developing services we offer.”

The practice was awarded a £150,000 by the London Deanery to build a single-storey wing, and the four partners opted to match the money to make it a two-storey extension with four treatment rooms, new offices, and a community room.

Dr Alan Schamroth, one of the partners, said the extension alleviates cramped conditions they were in before and make the practice much more accessible to patients.

He said: “In terms of providing better care, having the space and not having to get patients to walk up the stairs will make a big difference. We hope this is going to be a success.

“Health is clearly more than patients coming in to see doctors, it is about well-being and feeling involved in your community. We see health care as a very broad area and we hope to provide facilities to help that, such as the community room.”

Isidore Rynhold helped to unveil the extension in his role as chairman of the patient participation group, a body which has been instrumental in making the idea of a new wing a reality.

The patient group drove the process of getting planning permission for the extension to the surgery, in Gordon Road, and continue to play a vital role in the running of the practice and what services are provided. The surgery, which is independent of NHS Haringey, continues to open on weekdays between 8am and 6.30pm and from 8.45am to 12pm on Saturdays.