ICB delays plans for new GP premises over ‘cost-effectiveness’ concerns

Plans to build a new medical centre in Kent have been delayed by the local ICB due to concerns around its cost-effectiveness.

Developer Aria Group wants to build new housing and ‘an expanded medical centre facility’ on a brownfield site on Bell Road in Sittingbourne.

The medical centre would be located near the High Street over two floors with apartments above and a pharmacy, and would provide new premises for local GP practice, the Chestnuts Surgery.

Planning permission for the development was approved by Swale Borough Council, the planning authority, in 2021, and amendments were made to the plans in November 2022, to include a larger medical centre.

At the time, the developer said that the medical centre would help meet the needs of ‘a specific cohort of patients’ in the area ‘which is much greater than could be served by the existing dated Chestnuts building’, and that this represented ‘a tremendous opportunity for the site’.

According to the 2022 updates to the plans, ‘block 3’ of the development would be dedicated to the medical centre.

But the ICB, which would help fund the project, told Pulse that the scheme ‘currently needs further work on its cost-effectiveness’ as the commissioner must consider ‘both value for money and affordability of all proposals’.

A spokesperson for NHS Kent and Medway said: ‘No decisions have been made on Bell Road. The scheme currently needs further work on its cost-effectiveness as the NHS must consider both value for money and affordability of all proposals.

‘Making sure people have access to high-quality GP services is a priority for us and we will continue to support Chestnuts Surgery in exploring all options for the future.’

Aria Group said that the company ‘put a huge amount of resource’ in developing the proposal for the medical centre.

Director Kain Kassam told Pulse: ‘We have been working with the local ICB and surgery to facilitate a move into the new site.

‘It came as an unfortunate surprise to find that the plans were being held due to funding restrictions. We have been open with the ICB about the level of costings and the current climate surrounding the construction industry.

‘We are of course still extremely keen to develop the medical centre in Sittingbourne and with the influx of housing and new residents that is being promised we see this a key to the local infrastructure.’

Pulse has contacted the Chestnuts Surgery for comment.

Swale Borough Council has recently voiced concerns around GP provision in its area, and said that Swale has one of the lowest levels of fully-trained GPs per 1,000 patients in England – 0.39 in 2022 – and that this means on average each local GP has more than 2,500 patients.

Last year, it decided to write to then health secretary Steve Barclay asking him to work with the council to provide ‘funded solutions to encourage more GPs to locate in Swale’.

The council said this could include financial assistance given to the council and to GPs ‘to assist with housing for a fixed period’.

Meanwhile, three Kent GP practices housed in outdated buildings could be ‘at risk of eviction’, but plans for new premises met opposition.