Controversial plans to close seven Sheffield GPs and build three super-surgeries approved

Burngreave Surgery and Sheffield Medical Centre will move to a new health centre on Spital Street, Burngreave. Page Hall Medical Centre and Upwell Street Surgery will relocate to a new site on Rushby Street, Fir Vale. And The Health Care Surgery, Buchanan Road Surgery, and Margetson Surgery will all move to a new building on Buchanan Road/ Wordsworth Avenue, Parson Cross.

Construction is set to start at the end of the year, with the new buildings in use from from late 2024, according to NHS South Yorkshire. But a fourth proposal, for Firth Park Surgery and Shiregreen Medical Centre to move to a new health building at Concord Sports Centre, Shiregreen, will not go ahead.

Sheffield was given £37m from government to build new health centres. Public consultation earlier this year attracted more than 5,000 responses - including criticism that elderly and vulnerable people would struggle to travel to new sites which are not well served by public transport.

Dr Ben Allen, GP and NHS South Yorkshire clinical director for primary care in Sheffield said: “We are pleased that the development of the three GP health centres has moved a step forward. New buildings alone won’t solve all the problems facing GPs but we believe the new health centres will give us opportunity to attract and train more staff, create more space to increase services on one site, improve access and keep people well.

“We understand that some Firth Park Surgery and Shiregreen Medical Centre patients may be disappointed that the Concord Health Centre won’t go ahead. We continue to work with practices in this area to address the issues that formed the basis of the proposals as well as the issues that we heard during the consultation.”

The areas, all in north Sheffield, have significant health needs and have not had any investment in GP buildings in many years, he added. But practices won’t merge and will remain independent, with patients seeing the same GP and nurses as now.

Councillors first scrutinsed the plans in March, when the proposal was to close 15 GP practices and build five hubs. At the time, Coun Abtisam Mohamed was concerned about the closure of local services.

She said: “It goes against everything we stand for in the council in terms of localising provision and making sure that communities are a central part of every decision that we make in terms of that care and our support. This is about people who are vulnerable, who will be ill, who need localised support within their community. It doesn’t put patients at the heart of delivering care. I feel very saddened that this is going to further disadvantage communities. I don’t see any evidence or information that this is going to improve the quality of care.

“All I see is a service that’s going to be reduced for people with mobility issues that have less access.”

Gavin Boyle, chief executive of NHS South Yorkshire, said: “We believe the best way to support people and improve their health is to bring services together and wrap them around patients, helping to keep them well, independent and out of hospital.”