An £800,000 ‘super-surgery’ expansion in Broxtowe could provide a GP service for an extra 5,000 people.
The Hickings Lane Medical Centre has been serving north Stapleford for more than 20 years but is now in urgent need of expansion.
NHS England is providing £500,000 and the practice itself is contributing £300,000 for the work, expected to be complete in the summer.
Land at the side of the building will be used for a sizeable extension of five new consulting rooms.
Dr John Doddy, GP at the centre, said: “The extra room will allow for the growth of the community over the next five to ten years.”
The centre is also merging with nearby Bramcote Surgery, which will stay open but share staff with the practice.
Hickings Lane had around 500 patients on the books when it was first opened, but it now handles around 4,000.
The expansion should allow it to cope with up to 10,000 people and is expected to be finished in July.
Broxtowe Borough Councillor Richard MacRae said: “There’s the possibility of more than 1,000 new homes being built in the area soon. That’s a lot of people and they will all need a doctor’s to go to.
“So instead of waiting and then expanding when people get here, they are doing it the right way round.”
The only way you can get more is to train more
A bigger surgery will also help Notts train more GPs, Dr Doddy added, with a national shortage meaning almost 300 practices nationside
He said: “The only way you can get more is to train more and the only way you can train more is to create the space to train them.”
