Patient plans to build GP surgery to keep service

Coniston's current GP is set to retire on Friday and the village needs a new premises to operate the service

A village at risk of losing its GP surgery may have been thrown a lifeline after a patient put forward plans to build a new one.

The current GP serving Coniston in the Lake District is due to retire this week, but issues with the building mean a new premises needs to be found.

Local businessman Phil Johnston, 72, has offered to build the facility on his land to help secure the service for fellow residents and has applied to the Lake District National Park Authority for permission.

He said the plans were at the "outline application" stage, meaning a more detailed project had to be drawn up, and he welcomed ideas from the community.

Mr Johnston, who has lived in Coniston for 43 years, said he came up with the idea after he saw his late friend, Bill Barr, provide a surgery for his village of Hawkshead some years ago.

"I suppose it's following that model a little bit, that has given me the idea to want to do this for Coniston village, just like the late Bill did for Hawkshead," he said.

Phil Johnston says he wants to build a surgery that will be "accessible and sustainable"

When the current practice announced it would hand back its contract as it was unable to recruit a new partner, villagers produced a promotional video to help seek a substitute.

Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB) said the current surgery building did not meet the requirements for "modern healthcare settings" and options included finding a new provider or asking residents to register elsewhere.

A notice on Coniston's surgery website said Morecambe Bay Primary Care would act as a caretaker and manage the practice for six months, while a permanent replacement was found. There are about 850 people living in the village, according to the latest count.

A promotional video to recruit a new village GP featured local residents and was shared online

Mr Johnston, who is managing director of a company providing holiday accommodation, has applied to the national park authority for permission to build the new surgery on his land at Lands Field off Yewdale Road.

He also plans to build two apartments above the surgery for local occupancy to make the project "financially viable".

"The current surgery is in the cellar of the current doctor's house, it's been there for some time - it works very well but it's not very accessible," he said.

"I thought that it was perhaps time that somebody like myself with some land thought about building something for the village which would last a very long time and be accessible and sustainable."