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Cllr Catherine West outside the mothballed surgery |
Medical centre that GPs’ bosses ordered lies empty
Snubbed by NHS, developer is to offer surgery to private sector
PLANS for an NHS medical centre – promised under a regeneration scheme for the area around Arsenal’s new Emirates stadium – have been scrapped, it was revealed this week.
The purpose-built, 23,000 square foot building in Hornsey Street, Holloway, may now be offered to the private health sector. It was built to house a medical centre to serve more than 4,000 people.
Ditching the health centre plan means new residents – unless they are able to join another practice – will have to pay to visit a doctor.
The catchment area of the centre would have included from Highbury Studios, off Holloway Road, to Caledonian Road.
The decision not to open the clinic has sparked a furious row between opposition Labour leader Councillor Catherine West and Islington Primary Care Trust (PCT). Cllr West said the borough was in desperate need of clinics. She added: “The standard of premises is very poor and we need more GPs because lists are full.
“Speak to people moving into the borough and they have great difficulty getting onto a doctor’s list.”
The building has rooms for up to 60 medical practitioners, including dentists and other health professionals.
Developer Richard Artus said: “When we got planning permission for the development, Islington Council stipulated that it must include a NHS surgery. The NHS initially agreed to take space in the development and we designed it for them.
“They have now turned round and said there are new financial controls. There is no demand for the centre, and we’re out.
“We believe this facility is needed. It was shown by the protest reported in the Tribune recently over Dr Nandi, who died and was not replaced at the Andover estate in Finsbury Park.”
Mr Artus added that, if the NHS was not interested in the building, he would offer it to the private sector. He said: “This is a missed opportunity for the NHS.”
Rachel Tyndall, chief executive of Islington PCT, said: “We have a large programme to increase capacity in primary care. In the last two years we have opened three large, modern primary care centres in Bingfield Street, Hanley Road and another just off Holloway Road.
“We also have a new building in Laycock Street opening this year. We are working on plans to expand River Place and Finsbury health centres. Our long-term aim is to reduce the number of GP surgeries while increasing the size and capacity of existing ones.”
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