Two GP health centres have been given £1.8m by the Welsh Government, to help renovate the facilities.
Penclawdd and Murton health centres in Gower will be refurbished to upgrade and modernise existing facilities and ensure they can meet demand of a growing population from proposed new homes.
The investment is part of promised funding for 19 projects to improve Welsh primary care infrastructure, which were announced at the end of 2017.
In August more than £2m of funding was announced for transforming two existing practices in the Hywel Dda Health Board region to support a practice merger and a wider range of services to be made available.
It followed the announcement of a £2.4m investment for a new health centre in Aberaeron earlier in the year.
The latest funding injection will see ‘a wide range of primary and community services provided from seven fully-modernised, multi-functional clinical rooms’ at the Penclawdd Centre.
Meanwhile, Murton will undergo significant external and internal work, including the refurbishment of four consulting/treatment rooms to comply with current standards and both redevelopments are due to be completed by this summer, the Government said.
The Swansea Local Development Plan outlines plans for up to 5,000 additional homes in the Gowerton area.
Health minister Vaughan Gething said the resulting modern healthcare facilities would ‘help us deliver our long-term plan for health and social care in Wales by providing care closer to people’s homes’.
Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board chair Professor Andrew Davies said: ‘The investment will be very much welcomed by the local community.’
BMA Welsh GP Committee chair Dr Charlotte Jones said she welcomed any investment in improving GP premises in Wales and making them fit for the future but would like health managers to seek more input from local medical committees and GPs.
She said: ‘We would like to see greater involvement of GP practices and LMCs into the health board premises and estates strategies thus enabling a collaborative approach to ensuring these monies are equitably and fairly available where they are needed.’
She added that GPC Wales is working hard on solutions to wider premises and last-GP standing issues and said more guidance was needed for practices and clusters on how to bid for the transformation money available.
