After an arduous approval process the new Medical Centre has now received both planning permission and NHS approval to go ahead. (Finally!)
Saint Martins House Medical Centre in Chapeltown, Leeds, will boast a pharmacy, 18 consulting and treatment rooms for primary care, 10 further treatment and minor operations rooms for secondary care procedures, meeting spaces and dedicated administration offices. The 15,000 sq ft, four storey building will provide a much needed primary care hub at the heart of an expanding community.
Gaining approval for this scheme has been a real team effort with MGI working closely with Edward Architecture, St Martins Practice and the Primary Care Partnership. Ultimately it has only possible thanks to the ongoing support of the NHS and local area Councillors.
Creating a facility of this size in a busy inner city area is difficult, combine this with the fact that most of Chapeltown and Chapel Allerton are located within a conservation area restricting the sites and buildings available to us proved an even bigger issue. Creating an NHS business case for approval by commissioners can be a challenge at the best of times, now imagine this coupled with the planning process simultaneously… I could bore you with the details but I feel the expression ‘trying to rake water uphill’ gives you the general idea.
However where is the fun in walking away from a challenge?
We purchased an iconic local building ‘Saint Martins House’ previously used as offices, with the hope of offering it to the community by extending and altering it. Property development is about having a vision: seeing the potential for what a site can be, rather than what it is now and presenting the advantages it provides. As the (lucky) few of you reading this who know me well may know patience was not a virtue I was blessed with, which is usually summed up by my response to people asking ‘when will you be ready to start?’ and my reply often being ‘yesterday’. However this uncompromising quest for answers is what I believe gives us the edge, we just really can’t take no for an answer, in fact it just does not compute, surely if the need for a new medical facility in an area can be demonstrated how can glaring logic not dictate that maybe, just maybe, one should be built?
Where there’s a will there’s a way
After many talks with Leeds City Council’s planning department we eventually came to agreement on a viable scheme that would satisfy the local health care needs and offer a sustainable scheme in keeping with the history of the local area. Compromise is not a word I like to throw around, it implies concessions were made. I prefer evolution as the GP surgery are getting exactly the amount of space we set out to achieve and the council are satisfied with how it fits in with the local area, only the design of the extension has changed.
We achieved NHS approval and full planning consent earlier this month and considering schemes of this size can often take up to 6-8 years to get off the ground, our team achieving what we have in 16 months bodes quite well. Primary Care Development is a sector we aim to disrupt, a specialist sector dominated by a handful of developers characterised by long wait times and a lack of will to move things forward. Our service model is built around understanding Primary Care, how it operates, patients needs and GP’s aspirations to how they want to see care delivered in the community. Re-defining the way we engage with practices and other stakeholders such as CCG’s, NHS England, and Local Councils are key to creating sustainable projects.
Stay tuned for updates on the build and of course contact us or check our Medical Centre Development Page should you require further information.