The NHS is upgrading hospitals and primary health centres across the country, and the latest project has seen improvements to One Life Hartlepool Medical Centre.
Community Health Partnerships (CHP) has funded internal variation works to expand the number of clinical rooms for the Chadwick Practice.
The £109,000 capital investment included the removed of a storage room and WC and the joining up of existing corridors to access three underutilised consultation rooms on the ground floor in the adjacent minor injuries unit.
Access to the additional space enables the GP practice to manage its growing patient list as the previous premises was undersized.
Previously the team had a treatment room and 10 consulting rooms, so the floorspace has expanded by nearly a third.
The work follows CHP’s partnership working with North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB) and Durham and Tees Community Ventures (LIFTCo) to identify additional clinical space for the GP team.
The building work was project managed by FES FM which contracted the works to Milestone Infrastructure.
The work began in early June and took nine weeks, with the new area now in use.
As part of the project alterations were also made to electricity, lighting, and IT services to feed into the Chadwick GP surgery systems, as well as access control between the two sections of the building.
And the new clinical rooms and corridor were refurbished with fittings replaced in areas affected by the works.
Dan Cook, developments programme manager for the North at CHP, said: “We are pleased to have supported NHS North East and North Cumbria ICB to undertake remodelling works at One Life Hartlepool.
“The works will provide the Chadwick Practice with access to three additional consulting rooms, reduce waiting times, and improve patients’ health and wellbeing.”
Graeme Earl, digital and estates lead at Tees Valley at North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board, added: “Chadwick Practice had been struggling for space to manage its patient list size and was landlocked within the main One Life building.
“Knocking through to access the three extra clinical rooms will help the practice immensely in increasing access for patients and will also help reduce the underutilised space within the old minor injuries unit.”
Later this year more work will be undertaken at One Life Hartlepool to provide additional theatre space.
The project will reconfigure the theatres on the first floor, above the former minor injuries unit, and involves moving walls and cabinets and providing an enhanced space for daycase recovery.
