£1m extension work begins at GP practice

Extra consulting rooms, a meeting room, and library will be built at the Over-Wyre Medical Centre, in Wilkinson Way, Preesall.

The facility’s dispensary will be extended, while work will also be carried out on the building’s offices and other clinical rooms.

The majority of the funding, around £660,000, has come from the government, while the rest is coming from the practice itself, Fylde and Wyre Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), which plans and buys healthcare for 152,000 people, said.

Dr Thomas Marland, a GP at the practice, added: “We are excited to have been chosen to enhance our premises and now look forward to seeing the extension project take shape in the coming months.

“By improving facilities, and the range of services we can provide, our building development will benefit not only our own patients and staff but also patients within our neighbourhood scheme which is now gaining momentum.

“The support and guidance of our CCG has been crucial in obtaining this funding.

“We have also worked closely with the local community, our Patient Participation Group and the wider neighbourhood.”

The work was originally due to start last summer, but was hit by lengthy delays.

It will now start on Monday, July 11, practice manager John MacPhee confirmed to The Gazette.

The government funding comes from a £350m four-year NHS investment programme first revealed last March.

More than 1,000 GP practices across the country had bids approved for funding.