Newhaven’s new GP surgery set for government approval

The disused commercial property formerly home to the Co-Operative supermarket could become Newhaven’s new GP surgery.

The council and GPs have already signed off on the plans, and they are now waiting for government approval.

Newhaven councillor and Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate James MacCleary described the project as “the most modern health facility in the south of England.”

New facilities will be provided to Quayside and Chapel Street surgeries, which will mean they will be able to see more patients, take on more staff and offer more services, according to the East Sussex Conservative Group.

The surgery will be integrated with the leisure centre to provide a health hub for local residents. The project will be funded by the Government’s Future High Streets Fund of £7 million, which aims to bring more business to Newhaven and improve the town’s facilities with the Re-imagining Newhaven programme from Lewes District Council.

The programme aims to transform the town centre and High Street, creating up to 200 jobs by 2024.

Newhaven received a further £5 million in Spring 2021 to develop underutilised commercial properties in the town by March 2024.

Councillor Paul Boswell, mayor of Newhaven, said: “I welcome the proposals for the new surgery, but I do have to ask if this will guarantee an increase in doctors and their support staff for our expanding town, or only a new building? We're constantly hearing through the media about the uphill struggle our health service is under and Newhaven and its residents have the same problem. My worry is that without more GPs and the ability for our residents to quickly and efficiently obtain doctor's appointments, we won't see an improvement.”

According to the House of Lords Library, staff shortages in the NHS reached 9.7% in September 2022, up from 7.9% the previous year. Their data cites factors including a lack of long-term workforce planning by the government, Brexit leading to a loss of EU migrant staff, concerns over pay and job pressures.

In November 2022, the King’s Fund, an independent think tank on England’s health care system, reported that staff shortages were due to the length of time to train medical staff (10 years for a GP) with the cost of training meaning it is better to risk an undersupply of staff rather than an oversupply. They also criticised successive governments for migration policy being set without NHS interests in mind.

According to a report by the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee, the government is not on track to deliver the 6,000 additional full-time equivalent GPs promised in the 2019 Conservative manifesto, and the NHS lost 717 FTE GPs between March 2019 and March 2022.

The report says: “The persistent understaffing of the NHS now poses a serious risk to staff and patient safety both for routine and emergency care. It also costs more as patients present later with more serious illness. But most depressing for many on the frontline is the absence of any credible strategy to address it. It is time to stop photographing the problem and deal with it.”

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