A £480,000 reconfiguration project at Newington Health Care Centre (NHCC) in Hull, has been completed allowing expanded clinical capacity for patients at the Haxby Group GP Practice. Patients will be seen in three newly renovated clinical rooms from Monday 17 February 2025.
This collaborative effort between LIFTCo Citycare, CHP, as the head tenant at NHCC and the Haxby Group GP team, with Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care System (HNY ICS), and Sewell Construction, demonstrates a commitment to maximising utilisation and improving patient access to primary care teams in modern, accessible, core NHS healthcare buildings. The Haxby Group team have worked with the project team throughout the redevelopment, and they are pleased to support their patients by offering additional clinical capacity.
This is the second expansion of space for the Haxby team; with a project in January 2024 consolidating its Hull locations, moving from the Calvert Health Centre to their main location at Newington Health Centre.
Optimising Space for Growing General Practice Needs
With the departure of another GP practice in December 2023, an opportunity arose to repurpose underutilised space at Newington Health Centre. Recognising Haxby Group’s need for additional clinical rooms, Citycare worked with CHP and the project team to convert existing non-clinical office space, underutilised bookable rooms on the ground floor and use the empty clinical rooms from the departed GP practice.
The latest redevelopment provides an extra three clinical rooms and another store room. The remodelling project has enhanced clinical capacity but also improved the overall patient experience by streamlining reception services.
When the Haxby Group moved more services into Newington Health Care Centre, a year ago in January 2024, the team gained an extra three clinical rooms, a toilet for specimens, one dirty utility, one clean utility and a store room (a total of 65m2).
The total m2 of these two developments will be 107m2. This expansion will significantly increase Haxby Group’s clinical capacity within the building, allowing the GP team to better serve the local community.
Partnership working
CHP has invested £480,000 in this project, demonstrating its commitment to supporting the Haxby Group, and improving primary care access for patients, working in partnership with the LIFTCo teams, stakeholders including Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care System (HNY ICS). This initiative aligns with HNY ICS’s long-term plan for optimising building usage and the HNY Primary Care Delivery Plan’s focus on expanding clinical space for GP teams and Primary Care Networks across Hull and North Yorkshire.
The Haxby Group GP expansion project supports CHP’s commitment to the PACE (Productivity Acceleration in Community Estates) Programme, a national CHP initiative to prioritise the delivery of opportunities to increase productivity across the LIFT estate. CHP will continue to work with and support ICBs and Trusts in their strategic initiatives to identify potential opportunities.
Jane Fitch, CHP Regional Director for North East, said:
“This expansion at Newington Health Care Centre is a fantastic example of what can be achieved through effective partnership working for easier access to appointments, a better patient experience, and ultimately, improved health outcomes for the people of Hull. By collaborating with Citycare, the Haxby Group, and the ICS, we’ve been able to maximise the use of existing space and create additional clinical capacity. This means improved access to vital primary care services for the local community, in modern, core, accessible healthcare buildings.”
Tim Wigglesworth, Chief Executive at Citycare, said:
“Making the best use of existing space is a key driver in helping our NHS partners to save money whilst maximising efficiency such that local communities get better health outcomes and the staff in the buildings enjoy a positive working environment. This project enables all of these criteria to be met and will support Haxby Group as they deliver their services day in day out.”
About Newington Health Centre
Newington Health Care Centre, a modern two-story building constructed in 2006, provides a range of healthcare services to the residents of West Hull. Owned by Citycare (LIFTCo) and CHP as head tenant, the 1,197m2 centre offers convenient access with on-site parking and excellent public transport links. Situated on a main road leading out of the city centre, it is easily accessible by bus, with a bus stop directly outside the building.
The Haxby Group Practice GP team is based at the health centre.
City Health Care Partnership CIC occupies the first floor, offering a variety of community health services. These services include Hull Carer’s Information and Support Service (CISS). Clinical rooms are also used by nursing teams providing community services including podiatry services, anticoagulation clinics, and cardiac rehabilitation programmes.
Part public sector owned, Citycare is the long-standing estates solutions provider supporting health and social care delivery across the Humber region. Citycare has developed and delivered 13 health and wellbeing facilities across Hull, as well as supporting service providers and commissioners in making the best use from their existing properties.
