Sheffield has been given £37m to improve primary care buildings in the city. Most of this money will be used to build the new health centres in areas that need them most, bringing together GP and other services under one roof.
Earlier this year NHS South Yorkshire consulted with people on behalf of the nine GP practices that were proposing to move into the new buildings.
Local people fed back in several ways, and we had over 5,000 responses. The feedback was used to help inform practices’ decision on whether they wanted to continue with the plans and move into a new centre.
After considering public views and after discussions with the nine practices, it was agreed that the proposal for Firth Park Surgery and Shiregreen Medical Centre to move to a new health centre at Concord Sports Centre will not go ahead and the centre will not be built.
The final plan is to proceed with the development of proposals for:
- Burngreave Surgery and Sheffield Medical Centre to relocate to a new health centre on Spital Street, S3 (next to Sheffield Medical Centre).
- Page Hall Medical Centre and Upwell Street Surgery to relocate to a new health centre on Rushby Street, S4.
- The Health Care Surgery, Buchanan Road Surgery, and Margetson Surgery to relocate to a new health centre on Buchanan Road / Wordsworth Avenue, S5.
Dr Ben Allen, GP and NHS South Yorkshire Clinical Director for Primary Care in Sheffield said, “We are pleased that the development of the three GP health centres has moved a step forward.
“New buildings alone won’t solve all the problems facing GPs but we believe the new health centres will give us opportunity to attract and train more staff, create more space to increase services on one site, improve access and keep people well.
“We understand that some Firth Park Surgery and Shiregreen Medical Centre patients may be disappointed that the Concord Health Centre won’t go ahead. We continue to work with practices in this area to address the issues that formed the basis of the proposals as well as the issues that we heard during the consultation.”
Gavin Boyle, Chief Executive at NHS South Yorkshire said, “We believe the best way to support people and improve their health is to bring services together and wrap them around patients, helping to keep them well, independent and out of hospital. The new health centres would allow us to improve health facilities for local people as well as tackling health inequalities in the city.”
Next steps are to develop more detailed plans for NHS England approval in order to access the agreed funding. We will also be involving local communities in the design of buildings including disability stakeholder groups and young people to co-design finishes. We are also working with building design guides for people with certain needs such as those with dementia and autistic spectrum disorders.
Construction is to start at the end of the year. GPs and new patients would start using the new buildings from late 2024.