Works start on £3.4m Staffordshire healthcare facility

Midlands contractor G F Tomlinson has commenced works on the new Greenwood House Medical Centre in Burntwood, Staffordshire.

Due for completion in September, the new £3.4million medical facility, located on Lichfield Road, will bring first class healthcare facilities to the community, relieving the pressure of local hospitals.

The new single storey centre will consist of 12 consulting rooms, five treatment rooms, a healthcare and phlebotomy room, and a health education space with an adjoining pharmacy unit, and will be built on a site previously occupied by a residential care home, which has been vacant since 2008.

Providing a much-needed upgrade to the current healthcare facilities, the centre will be replacing services provided by the Darwin Medical Practice - located on Hudson Drive approximately 300 metres away from Greenwood House, ensuring improved and accessible facilities for the area.

There will also be 61 onsite parking spaces created and surroundings will be landscaped, with the centre using the existing road entrance for the former care home.

The scheme has been funded by NHS England’s Estates and Technology Transformation Fund, which aims to improve healthcare services for patients across the country with modernised facilities and technology.

Procured through the Staffordshire County Council framework, G F Tomlinson has been selected to provide construction works for the site, and this is the fifth project the contractor has procured through the framework since 2016.

Recent projects for the framework have included the £3.7m renovation of King Edward VI Primary School in Lichfield, and the £5m build of Anker Valley Primary School in Tamworth.

Chris Flint, director of G F Tomlinson said: “The importance of good quality healthcare is important, now more than ever, and the new medical centre will provide optimised and accessible facilities for the local community which are currently inadequate, meeting the demands of the ageing population in Burntwood.

“We’re pleased to be partnering with Staffordshire County Council once again to provide vital public service buildings for the wider community, instilling confidence that they have access to good healthcare whenever they need it.”

Alan White, leader of Staffordshire County Council and former cabinet member for health, care and wellbeing, said: “Part of the strategy for reducing demand on our hospitals from ageing communities is to provide more facilities and services close to residents.

“This development, reusing a dormant plot of land that has long been earmarked for the purpose, will provide additional capacity for the local GP practice and means people in Burntwood can look forward to a new, state-of-the-art facility that meets the community’s needs.”

Dr Gerbo Huisman, GP partner at Darwin Medical Practice, said: “I am delighted that years of collaborative working and planning between skilled and dedicated professionals from local health authorities, the county council and The Darwin Medical Practice are now coming to fruition.

“Our patients, as well as the wider community, are now getting what they have asked for so long; a modern, spacious and comfortable health centre from which we, their GP practice, will be delivering high quality, responsive and patient centred primary care services.”

Staffordshire County Council is leading this project, with project management from ENTRUST, G F Tomlinson acting as main contractor, CPMG as architect and Jackson Purdue as structural engineer.