Building Size:
757 sq. mtrs

Start date:
September 2010

Completion date:
April 2011

Project Status:
On-Site

Newcastle-upon_Tyne, Crawcrook Medical Centre, Gateshead

Working with local stakeholders to improve the quality of Primary Care at the Heart of their Community

Description: Crawcrook is a small town in Gateshead with one GP practice serving approximately 7500 patients from the town and the surrounding rural area. The practice appointed Ashley House as their preferred developer in 2006 and a site search was initiated. The search focused on the town centre areas as it was important for the practice to remain at the heart of the community. Their current premises do not have enough consulting rooms now for the GPs and Nurses to efficiently manage their workload. The standard of accommodation is also very poor and it is difficult for them to adhere to all of the Infection Control policies that are now required. Lack of space is a huge issue for the Administrative staff with the storage of patient records being particularly challenging for them. NHS South of Tyne has been very supportive of this development and they have advised on many issues integral to the success of the scheme.

Project Status:
Following the appointment of a local contactor the scheme is now on site with a projected completion date of April 2011.The first phase involves the construction of an access road into the site.

Project brief: To provide a new Primary Care Centre and pharmacy for the town of Crawcrook which would provide accommodation fit for purpose and also flexibility for future expansion. The Practice wish to become a training practice and the only way this is possible is to move to larger premises. The provision of an integrated pharmacy will both benefit patients and assist with the clinical dialogue  between professionals. The scheme has been designed to provide car parking for staff and visitors to the Medical Centre as well as additional spaces to be used by town centre visitors. The scheme will achieve a BREEAM rating of ‘very good’.

Project solution: Gateshead City Council prepared a Master Plan for an area of approximately 3 acres in the centre of the town which had previously been home to the local Auction Mart. Within the Master Plan for the site an area was identified for a Health Centre .We worked with the landowners and the council to achieve full planning approval for both the Medical Centre and Pharmacy as well as outline planning for a residential development on the remainder of the site. The medical centre has been designed over two floors with a mono -pitched roof and a single storey flat roofed unit for the pharmacy to the side.

Points of interest: An important part of the brief was to ensure that some degree of ‘future-proofing’ of the building was taken into consideration. To this end an area has been created within the Centre that can be easily fitted out in the future should the practice require additional space. The accommodation has been cleverly designed so that an out-of-hours zone can be created .This means that the practice do not have to provide heat, light and security for the whole building, just for the reception and two consulting rooms