GP surgeries given £1.5m to meet growing demand

The £1.5m investment will "maximise health and well-being in our communities", said councillor Kay Yule

A total of £1.5m is to be spent expanding three Suffolk doctor's surgeries to help cope with growing demand where new homes are being built.

East Suffolk Council said the cash would be shared between Haven Health Surgery and Grove Medical Centre, in Felixstowe, and Cutlers Hill Surgery, in Halesworth.

The money has come from community infrastructure levy (CIL) funding, which developers pay to council for the cash to be spent on local services.

Councillor Kay Yule said it was important that housing developers help "financially" to meet the need.

Haven Health, in Grange Farm Avenue, Felixstowe, will have five additional consulting rooms created, taking the total number at the surgery to 17

Ms Yule, the Liberal Democrat cabinet member of planning and coastal management, said: "We want to ensure that the right infrastructure is put in the right place at the right time."

She said it would help meet "increased demand".

"It is important that our larger housing developers help to financially meet that need," she said.

Funding worth £612,000 has been allocated for the expansion of services at Haven Health Surgery.

Another £22,000, from additional funding, will be used to create five more clinical rooms and help futureproof its services.

The project will help offer up to 60 additional appointments per 1,000 patients per week and deliver more services in community settings.

Dr Paul Driscoll, a GP partner with Suffolk Primary Care, said the reconfigured building would make it more effective.

"It will ensure we can continue to meet demand in the future and offer high quality, accessible services to our patients as the population of Felixstowe increases," he said.

A further £62,000 will fund the conversion of four rooms at the Grove Medical Centre into clinical accommodation.

In total, £778,000 will be spend expanding Cutlers Hill Surgery to include improved welfare facilities, four new consultation rooms, a healthcare assistant room and improved patient access.

Hayley Witham, practice manager, said it would ensure "sustainability".

"[It] will mean we can continue to provide an effective primary care medical service to our growing patient population," she said.