Community Health Partnerships (CHP), the Department of Health and Social Care-owned company that manages and develops NHS community healthcare estate, is investing £996,715 to expand The Stone Castle Centre in Doncaster.
The project is one of 16 NHS LIFT schemes in the first wave of the NHS Neighbourhood Rebuild Programme, a £200m national initiative to repurpose and refurbish existing primary and community healthcare facilities as part of the government's plan to deliver 250 Neighbourhood Health Centres across England by 2035.
The investment follows the government's announcement that the first 27 Neighbourhood Health Centres will open by 2027 as part of the wider NHS Neighbourhood Rebuild Programme.
NHS LIFT (Local Improvement Finance Trust) is a partnership model that has supported the development of modern primary and community healthcare facilities by combining NHS and private sector investment.
The scheme will reconfigure underused first-floor space within the existing health centre to provide five new consulting rooms for Conisbrough Group Practice.
Construction is now underway following financial close, with completion expected in early 2027.
Community Health Partnerships is delivering the scheme in partnership with NHS South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board, Conisbrough Group Practice, Doncaster Estates Partnership (LIFTCo) and Sewell Advisory.
The Stone Castle Centre currently accommodates two GP practices, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, eating disorder services, a pharmacy and community clinics operated by Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust.
The refurbishment will create five flexible consulting rooms and include upgrades to the building's mechanical ventilation systems.
Once complete, the additional capacity is expected to support thousands of extra patient appointments each year while providing more flexible space for delivering primary and community care.
The investment is intended to help meet increasing demand for healthcare services in the area, where rates of long-term conditions, deprivation and poorer healthy life expectancy are above regional and national averages.
The project also supports the ambitions of the NHS 10 Year Plan and the South Yorkshire Infrastructure Strategy 2024–2034 by expanding neighbourhood-based healthcare through improvements to existing NHS facilities.
“This nearly £1m CHP investment in The Stone Castle Centre demonstrates how we can make better use of existing NHS estate to support local communities,” said Dr Jane Fitch, Regional Director for North East at Community Health Partnerships.
The project builds on other Community Health Partnerships investments, including a £1.5m redevelopment delivered last month that transformed underused space at Dudley's Ridge Hill site into a specialist stroke rehabilitation unit.
