Work to begin on £8m ‘health hub’ for west Hull

‘MEETING THE NEEDS OF PATIENTS’: The West Hull Health Hub

Work is set to begin on an £8m ‘health hub’ to benefit thousands of patients in west Hull.

Contracts have been exchanged for the new West Hull Health Hub, which will be located in Calvert Lane. It will replace the dated Springhead Medical Centre, in Willerby Road, which has operated at full capacity for 70 years from facilities which are no longer fit for purpose.

The new two-storey building will have 32 clinical rooms, including GP and nurse consulting rooms, treatment rooms, clinical support spaces and office accommodation, as well as a reception and waiting area, a wheelchair accessible lift, baby changing area and buggy parking, a pharmacy and adjacent car park.

Dr Elizabeth Dobson, an executive partner at Modality Partnership Hull, who is currently based at Springhead Medical Centre, said: “To meet the need for patients and the practice team, the Springhead site has been extended several times, extended into the adjacent house, and 10 years ago developed a satellite building on Hotham Road South.

“Different solutions for purpose-built premises have been considered for the past 20 years and I’m pleased we’re finally progressing with the solution.

“The pandemic has highlighted the constraints of the current premises, with the requirements for social distancing to maintain appropriate infection control. The clinical rooms are smaller than recommended and the access for wheelchairs and prams challenging.

“As primary care transforms to meet the needs of patients, the people and places we need to deliver care have changed. The roles within primary care have expanded with practice nurses, health care assistants, clinical practitioners, paramedics, pharmacists, social prescribers forming part of the team. We provide holistic, proactive and preventative services to patients and take the time to address all aspects of health and wellbeing.

“Both our staff and our patients will benefit from care being provided in a safe, spacious working environment that will allow us to expand the range of services we offer.

“We’re looking forward to being able to offer patients access within purpose-built premises, with on-site car parking and a pharmacy, where we can invite community services and charities to join us in supporting our patients.”

Owned by Modality Partnership, Springhead Medical Centre is a large and well-established family GP and teaching practice.

The new health centre will be part of Modality Partnership’s Hull Division, which has a combined total of more than 60,000 patients and four sites across the city.

The development is being led by health estates company Citycare, which has delivered 13 health centres across the city, including the recent Jean Bishop Integrated Care Centre, in east Hull.

Tim Wigglesworth, chief executive at Citycare, said: “It has been a long journey but we’re delighted to have exchanged contracts to make this scheme a reality.

“We recognise the need to support the patients and practice in this part of the city and we’re really pleased to bring this scheme forward using a new development and finance approach, which has been important in the current economic climate.

“The West Hull Health Hub adds to the existing Citycare portfolio, which, over the last 15 years, has enabled significant benefits for patients across the city.

“We’re proud to work alongside our colleagues at NHS Hull Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) as their trusted estates partner to support service transformation and improvements in the local health estate together.”

Erica Daley, chief operating officer for NHS Hull CCG, which is responsible for commissioning primary care services across the city, said:“I am pleased to reach this important step, with the patients of Modality Partnership Hull who currently access GP services at Springhead Medical Centre moving closer to receiving services in a purpose-built modern facility that meets the 21st century standards for building design.

“The NHS Long Term Plan includes the ambition for an extended primary care clinical workforce, and Modality Partnership would have been restricted in delivering this at the existing premises on Willerby Road and Hotham Road South”.

“We are delighted that the new health centre will bring together a broader range of clinicians and substantially increase clinical space. This will provide an opportunity to offer a wider range of services which will be very much welcomed by patients in this part of east Hull.”

The health centre will be built by Sewell Construction, which has worked alongside Citycare in the delivery of 13 other health buildings in the city.

Highways works are due to commence in Calvert Lane to create access into the site in the coming weeks, with construction on the site itself expected in November 2020. The construction will take a year to complete.