Go ahead for £8m new Blackpool GP surgery

The scheme, which got planning permission in February 2019, will see a three-storey medical centre constructed on Adelaide Street to replace the Adelaide Street Surgery and South King Street Surgery.

The new facilities will serve around 20,000 patients in one of the most deprived areas of the resort where many residents end up in A&E when their health reaches crisis point.

The council will fund the investment through borrowing and has agreed a 32 year lease with the NHS.

Steve Thompson, director of resources at Blackpool Council, told a meeting of the executive that the Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) could not own assets.

He said: “So we have worked with them towards building this £8m scheme.”

A report to the executive, which agreed the recommendations, says it will serve an area with “some of the most deprived populations with extremely complex health needs.”

More space is needed to treat patients who are “amongst the highest users of A&E services across the Fylde Coast.”

The report adds: “A significant number of patients come into the area transiently and suffer with isolation, loneliness, mental health, drug and alcohol issues.

“It is an area with health inequalities where people suffer from premature death in comparison to other towns in the United Kingdom.”

Part of the site was previously occupied by the former Comrades Club which has been demolished.

The three-storey facility will have a ground-floor pharmacy, GP consulting rooms, treatment rooms, facilities for trainee consultants, staff offices, and change and meeting rooms.

It is also hoped it will help in the recruitment of GPs by offering better facilities.

The report says: “One of the aims of this project is to make this new building into an area of educational excellence for upcoming doctors, providing teaching and training for students and trainees for years to come.”

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