New GP surgeries prescribed to handle influx of new homes
MICKLEOVER, MACKWORTH AND ALVASTON ARE AMONG PRIORITY AREAS
MICKLEOVER, Mackworth, Chellaston, Alvaston and South Derbyshire are the areas of the county and Derby which have been made a priority for new GP surgeries by health chiefs.
South Derbyshire and the southern suburbs of Derby have and are seeing some of the country’s most intense rates of housebuilding.
Local health chiefs are aware there is a significant unmet demand for health services in the area and have dubbed it their priority across the entire county.
This will eventually see new GP surgeries and possibly a health centre in the coming years – though time and money are key issues.
It also came to light that health chiefs have been missing out on claiming hundreds of thousands of pounds from developers which could have paid for improvements to local services, for which there was an apology.
Clive Newman, director of GP development at the Derby and Derbyshire Clinical Commissioning Group – which oversees health services in the county and city – shed light on plans to cater for the huge influx in new homes, and accompanying new patients.
He said the area south of Derby is the part of the county “under the most pressure” for house-building with “a town the size of Belper” being planned with 20,000 more people set to come to the area.
In this, alongside the housing schemes already under way, he alludes to the proposed Infinity Garden Village, which will sit south of Wragley Way between Sinfin and Chellaston.
It will include more than 2,000 homes, a primary school, a secondary school, shops and space for health services, a pub, drivethrough restaurant, a petrol station and a colossal 290-acre business park.
Last February, the CCG said it was “unlikely” to ask for a new GP surgery or health centre to support the garden village
But this week, speaking at a South Derbyshire District Council meeting, Mr Newman said: “We have got grander schemes, which has identified southern Derby as one of our priority areas, with a feasibility study to see where we can add to our estate.
“We are already doing this for Mickleover and Mackworth and Chellaston and Alvaston, which are in an even more parlous state (bad condition) than you are (South Derbyshire).
“We are trying to develop longer term plans.”
He said the CCG is working with larger practices to see if they could add another service to their business. Mr Newman said a key issue is that a fair number of GPs were now coming towards retirement and there is no second “wave” of new recruits coming in, with most trainees not opting to become GPs but taking on other roles.
When asked about the Infinity Garden Village and plans for future health services, he said: “South of Derby is the area in the county that is most under pressure in terms of housebuilding. “We have two priority areas, Mickleover and Mackworth, Chellaston and Alvaston, and then the whole south area of the city.
“We have already committed and are now working on detailed feasibility studies to work out the best configuration of estate, including new estate and new buildings, in those areas to manage the growth in demand.
“Those areas of Derby and the area south of Derby are our priorities for new premises.”
A large new surgery or health centre, Mr Newman said, would cost in the region of £150 million to build and run and that contributions from developers were never going to be enough to fund one alone.
However, he did apologise to the district council on behalf of the CCG for “past failures” in which the organisation did not respond to inquiries from the local authority about money they could be owed from developers to improve health services.
Developers often contribute money to health services, as well as for schools and open space improvements, to offset the impact of housing developments, in legally binding but time-sensitive Section 106 agreements.
Councillor Lisa Brown, chair of the district council’s planning committee, said: “In the past the local planning authority had incredible problems with the health authority, we could never get a response from you.
“We would chase you over and over again for a response on what monies you need, what pressures might arise from these particular developments.
“We would struggle to get a response and that money (from developers) would evaporate and it is very hard to get that opportunity back.
“In many cases this involves hundreds of thousands of pounds which have in the past been lost.”
Mr Newman said: “It would be absolute madness, and I can only apologise for that in the past, to actually turn our noses up at perfectly good money that we desperately need because we can’t organise ourselves to take it.
“I apologise and I agree with you for previous failures on this, but we have a process now.”
We are now working on detailed feasibility studies to manage the growth in demand. Clive Newman