National funding has enabled 63 GP practices and four hospital Trusts in Birmingham, the Black Country and Solihull to upgrade their buildings – creating a total of 95 new clinical spaces that will support an additional 380,000 appointments every year.
Rather than building new facilities, just over £4m from the Primary Care Utilisation and Modernisation Fund has focused on making better use of the existing NHS estate, transforming underused space into modern clinical environments. This approach has enabled practices to expand services more quickly while supporting the NHS's commitment to reducing its carbon footprint.
Investment has focused on areas of high levels of deprivation, helping improve access to primary care and reduce health inequalities. Practices now have greater capacity to deliver care closer to where people live, supporting multidisciplinary teams and enabling more patients to be seen within their local community and potentially avoid unnecessary hospital visits.
Yardley Wood Health Centre in Birmingham is one of the GP practices to have benefited from £98,000 from the fund, which was used to turn previously unused space into three additional clinical rooms – meaning the practice can offer around 160 extra appointments each week, improving access for its 11,000 registered patients.
Sarb Basi, Deputy Chief Officer, Primary Care, Birmingham, Black Country and Solihull cluster ICBs said: "This programme shows how investing in existing GP buildings can make a real difference for patients. Across Birmingham, the Black Country and Solihull, new clinical rooms are helping practices increase appointment capacity and improve access to care. It also supports the goals of the 10 Year Health Plan for England by offering more care in the local community rather than hospitals."
Sophia Raja, Managing Partner at Yardley Wood Health Centre, said: "These new clinical rooms represent an important improvement for our patients, staff and wider community. By making better use of space within the health centre, we have created additional capacity that will help us improve access to care, support our multidisciplinary teams and enhance the experience of patients using our services. Increasing our capacity each week will make a meaningful difference for the people we serve."
Al Carns MP, who officially opened the new clinical spaces at Yeardley Wood Health Centre, said: "It was a pleasure to visit Yardley Wood Health Centre and see these improvements first-hand. The creation of these new clinical rooms will help strengthen local primary care services, improve access for patients and provide additional space for healthcare professionals to deliver care within the community. It is encouraging to see practical improvements that will make a real difference to local people."
