A government loan could pave the way for a new GP surgery in Brighton & Hove.
On July 13 2017, Brighton & Hove councillors on the city’s policy resources and growth committee will be asked to consider applying for a government loan that would turn one of its city- centre owned buildings into a GPs’ surgery. It would mean that an existing practice, Ardingly Court, would move from its current location and expand its services as well as increasing patient numbers from 8,500 up to 12,000.
The loan to cover the cost of work needed to make the building suitable is £850,000, which would be repaid over the 20 year lease period by Brighton and Hove Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).
Leader of the Council, Warren Morgan, said: “There is an increasing demand for more doctors in the city yet we’ve had several surgeries close in recent years leaving current providers oversubscribed and overstretched. This makes it more difficult to get an appointment and leads to longer waiting times for patients at the surgery.
“The good health of residents is a key priority for us so using a combination of government money and council owned assets to help achieve this is exactly the right thing to do.
“We would recoup the money from the practice over time but most importantly, many thousands of residents would benefit by having easier access to health care and services when they need it.”
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