GP plans for new Stoke Medical Centre to get underway

Residents in Stoke-on-Trent will soon see plans for the new £2.6 million Hartshill Medical Centre realised with building work expected to get underway in early February.

The new GP premises on the corner of Ashwell Road and Hartshill Road is part of a strategic service plan to improve GP practices in the area and has been developed in partnership with the existing Hartshill Surgery, NHS Stoke-on-Trent, Prime plc and Prima 200, the North Staffordshire LIFT.

With support from NHS Stoke-on-Trent, the partners of the existing Hartshill Surgery commissioned the project and they will lease the new property from Prima 200.

John Taylor, Chair of Prima 200, commented: “This development shows the flexible way in which Prima 200 can work with healthcare providers to improve services. We are looking forward to continuing to work closely with the GPs as the project gets underway.”

The new single storey 800 sq m building will provide a range of improved services including an onsite pharmacy and a multi-purpose room for the 6,300 patients currently registered at Hartshill Surgery, as well as allowing space for the practice to grow.

The new facility, which is the first to be built under the latest building regulations in Stoke-on-Trent, was designed by healthcare specialists One Creative Environments Ltd in consultation with Hartshill Surgery and the local community and residents association. The red brick exterior of the medical centre has been designed to blend with neighbouring buildings, whilst its one storey height takes into account nearby residential homes.

Craig Walding of One Creative Environments Limited, explained: “Hartshill Medical Centre has been an exciting project to work on and the final result is not just a contemporary building, but a new surgery with its own identity that has been shaped by the local community. The centre will also incorporate a number of green technologies including solar PV panels and an energy efficient ventilation system, demonstrating that we’ve designed the building with sustainability in mind.”

Barbara Andrew of Hartshill and Harpfields Residents’ Association, said: “We are really pleased that plans for the Hartshill Medical Centre have now been finalised. Along with other members of the local community, we have been involved from the start and are looking forward to seeing the realisation of our input into the design come to life over the coming months.”

Alison Challinor, Practice Manager at Hartshill Surgery, said: “Hartshill Medical Centre represents much needed investment in healthcare in the region and is being built in direct response to the need for improved GP accommodation.”

Sandra Jones, Project Manager for NHS Stoke-on-Trent, added: “The NHS is pleased that work will soon commence to construct the new Hartshill Medical Centre.  Hartshill will soon benefit from a modern health care facility that will fully support the provision of high quality easily accessible GP services”.

Meir Primary Care Centre Opens In Stoke-On-Trent

A new £11m state-of-the-art health centre has opened in Stoke-on-Trent, bringing together six local GP practices and providing an enhanced range of services to the local community.

Commissioned by NHS Stoke-on-Trent and developed though the Prima 200 LIFT partnership with private sector partner Prime plc, Meir Primary Care Centre brings together a whole range of health services under one roof, including district nursing, health visiting, school nursing, specialist nursing, contraception and sexual health services, paediatric and adult physiotherapy, a dental access centre, and an on-site community pharmacy.

John Taylor, Chair of Prima 200, said: “By working closely with the local community, the Primary Care Trust and Prime we have together been able to create a health centre fit for the 21st century that can also support an expansion in services. The scheme in Meir demonstrates the importance of designing buildings and infrastructure around the service needs of a community, and ensuring those services are easily accessible.”

The official opening was attended by the Lord Mayor of Stoke-on-Trent who commemorated the launch with the unveiling of the King’s Arm’s coat-of-arms to commemorate the heritage of the site as the former King’s Arms’ Pub.

Rob Flello, Stoke-on-Trent South MP, also attended and added: “I’ve watched closely as the building work has progressed over the last 12 months and now it’s completed it looks fantastic. It is going to be a great health facility for the Meir community and credit should be given to NHS Stoke on Trent and its partners in providing a centre which will make a huge contribution to healthcare provision in the area.”

Designed by healthcare specialists One Creative Environments Ltd, the building includes the preserved King’s Arms coat-of-arms and a colourful bowling green mural in the ground floor waiting area. As well as contributing significantly to the regeneration of the community landscape, the contemporary facility is BREEAM Excellent rated and incorporates a range of green features such as shading louvers to reduce glare and overheating from the sun, and renewable technology including photovoltaic solar panels and air source derived environmental comfort to make the building more sustainable.

Graham Urwin, Chief Executive of the Staffordshire Cluster of PCTs, commented: “We are very proud of the new centre in Meir and we are very much looking forward to it opening next Monday. The centre will help us make sure the healthcare needs of local residents are better met by providing so many services under one roof.”