Funding for Crediton health hub to be confirmed

Mid Devon Disctrict Council expected to loan £2.1m

The Chiddenbrook & New Valley GP surgeries in Crediton are proposing to merge and move from their existing premises into a new purpose built facility off Joseph Locke Way, behind the Tesco superstore.

Planning permission for the new GP practice was granted earlier in the month and the NHS will be providing 80 per cent of the costs for the project.

Mid Devon District Council’s cabinet, when they meet today (Thursday 25th July), are recommended to loan the GP practices the remaining £2.1m as the contribution they need to make to ensure the NHS Hub can be built.

Andrew Jarrett, Deputy Chief Executive, is recommending that a loan to the GP Practice of £2.1m, repayable over 28 years on an annuity basis at a fixed interest rate of 3.75 per cent, is agreed.

His report says: “We were approached towards the end of 2018 by representatives of two GP Practices who were proposing to merge and locate to a new building in Crediton. The new building was proposed to provide much more than just a larger GP Practice, but to be more of an integrated health hub with both GP and wider NHS treatment areas.

“The new building will be mostly funded by the NHS, but the GPs have to source a certain amount of the funding themselves. They approached this council to see whether we could offer a more competitive lending rate than that already offered by two banks.

“We saw this as an opportunity not only to ensure that there was a modern, fit for purpose GP surgery in Crediton, as we were aware that the existing two practices were becoming inadequate, but also for the council to lend to a suitable stakeholder who was willing to secure the loan and still provide us with a good rate of return on our money. In the current economic climate with the limited returns that are available to us, this was an attractive proposition.

“The GPs and their representatives have undertaken public awareness sessions. This has been well received and we are pleased that the public and some of our councillors have been able to attend to see the plans and the details of the proposal.

“We are confident that this is a sound project and we have undertaken robust due diligence which has included extensive fact finding and numerous meetings with the GPs and their representatives. This is a good project from an economic regeneration basis; developing a disused site and maintaining a health provision hub in Crediton, and also a favourable financial proposition which will help mitigate the budgetary pressures we are facing in future years.”

The report says that the co-location of Crediton’s two GP practices to a single, contemporary building would provide the medical capacity to meet the population increases in the Crediton locality from the new homes currently forecasted in the MDDC Plan, particularly as Chiddenbrook Surgery 46 per cent undersized for its current patient list.

The two Crediton GP practices – Chiddenbrook and New Valley – currently have a combined patient list of 14,370 rising to 18,100 within the next 5 to 10 years due to the existing planned housing development around Crediton.

The report states the proposed site off Joseph Locke Way is easily accessible by car, rail, bus, and on foot, is a build-ready site, and is expandable for future services.

If the funding is approved, work is set to begin by the end of the year, construction to be complete by January 2021, with the building occupied by Spring 2021.

Mid Devon District Council’s cabinet meets on Thursday evening.