Blackpool advances plan for £8m medical centre
A health hub aimed at improving care in one of the town’s most deprived areas could take a step closer to reality if the council’s executive signs off a plan to borrow money to develop the facility.
The council is to borrow up to £8m to fund the construction of the medical centre on the corner of Adelaide Street and South King Street.
Two GP surgeries and a pharmacy currently occupy the plot, but these buildings would be demolished to make way for a new-build, three-storey facility.
The two existing practices have a roster of around 20,000 patients but are deemed too small to function effectively, according to the council.
“Central Blackpool is a deprived area with a large cohort of patients with multiple co-morbidities”, a report to the council’s executive says.
“A significant number of patients…suffer with isolation, loneliness, mental health, drug and alcohol issues. It is an area with health inequalities where people suffer from premature death in comparison to other towns in the United Kingdom.”
Blackpool Council approved plans for the project in 2019. DAY Architectural drew up the proposals.
The health centre will earn the council just shy of £400,000 a year in rent and is to be managed by Fylde and Wyre Clinical Commissioning Group.
