Ruth Edwards MP has invited the Minister for Patient Safety and Primary Care, Maria Caufield, to Rushcliffe where they visited the East Leake Health Centre to hear the exciting plans for a new community hub.
The pair met with representatives from the practice, patient’s groups, the Rushcliffe Primary Care Network and others, all of whom told the minister that the building that the Health Centre is situated in is no-longer fit for purpose.
The current Health Centre is the oldest in Nottingham and as such the building is incredibly out of date.
The roof leaks in the rain leading to flooding and problems with the fixtures and services on site.
The practice has also struggled to deal with the increase in population in its catchment area as new housing estates have been built and brought more people to the area.
These issues severely effect patient care to the point where there is a squeeze on the amount of services that can be offered, at a time when we ask more and more from our GPs.
However, there are exciting plans in the works to develop a state-of-the-art community hub, incorporating additional services including the GP’s surgery, the dentists, the library, the pharmacy, and others.
There is a massive amount of community support on this issue and patients in East Leake were unanimous in their praise for the staff in the existing health centre.
However, there was an understanding that they could only do their best given the lack of space available in the building.
A move into a new space would provide more consultation rooms that could deliver a wider range of services such as with on-site physiotherapists, prescribing pharmacists, social prescribers, and mental health services.
Having all these services in house would increase patient awareness of them, make treatments more accessible and deal with the root causes of illnesses before a GP appointment is required.
The inadequacies of the East Leake Health Centre have existed for a long time and Ruth has been working with various stakeholders such as the Rushcliffe Borough Council and Nottingham and Nottinghamshire CCG to look at options for a new health centre since her election in 2019.
Ruth said “I am glad that the Minister was very supportive of our vision and the CCG has restarted the business case after delays caused by the COVID pandemic.
“I will work to help move the business case along and get it submitted because we need this facility urgently.”
Minister for Patient Safety and Primary Care Maria Caulfield said:
“It’s been great visiting East Leake Health Centre in Nottinghamshire to hear about their proposal for a new practice.
“The team are doing an incredible job and I thank staff for going above and beyond, caring for their community during the pandemic.
“We’ve made an extra £520 million available to improve access to GP practices on top of £1.5 billion to create an additional 50 million appointments in general practice by 2024.”
