Moulton Medical Centre expansion plan is recommended for approval by South Holland District Council’s planning committee

A cramped GP surgery is set to get much-needed consultation rooms if its expansion plans are approved next week.

The practice team at Moulton Medical Centre says it has out-grown the 45-year-old building – and this has resulted in some staff members being forced to work from home with a long-term negative impact on patients.

Plans have been submitted to South Holland District Council to add a further seven consulting rooms, three additional one to one rooms and a large office and meeting room and staff room within the extension. This will be comprised of a part two storey, part single storey, rear and side extension.

Members of the council’s planning committee have been recommended to approve the application at a meeting on Tuesday next week.

The design and access statement which accompanies the planning application says: “Our dire lack of space within our practice is seriously affecting our ability to develop both our existing services and introduce new services, which will have a negative effect on our patients longer term as they will have to travel further to use services or be willing to receive services via telephone consultations - which for our demographic is not always helpful or effective.”

The practice currently has 5,600 patients on its books and this is set to increase due to the number of housing developments which have been approved in the villages between Spalding and Holbeach.

The design and access statement highlights some of the challenges faced by the practice due to its space shortage.

It states that two GP partners take it in turns to work from home on a Monday and Tuesday and that a nurse admin colleague also does not have space to work on those days.

There is also no space for a respiratory nurse, a clinical pharmacist, specialist neighbourhood nurse (care co-ordinator), social prescriber and health and wellbeing coach.

The practice offers limited minor surgery and long-acting reversible contraception clinics due to the lack of space – which also results in admin staff working in a windowless former stock room.

It adds: “The medical centre is currently unable to separate all visitors to the practice who either have appointments or are collecting medication or have general enquiries as they do not have space to do so. The negative effect of this is people get 'tied up in the queue' so can appear 'late' for their appointments, which then has a knock-on effect to others.”

The report to Tuesday’s planning committee states that the county council’s highways team had questioned if the practice would have sufficient parking space with the removal of two bays for the extension.

The district council also received six letters of representation which raised concerns about parking, potential overlooking and that the proposal is out of keeping with the area.

In recommending the plans for approval, officers state in the report: “The proposal represents appropriate development within the defined settlement boundary. The development hereby proposed does not materially harm the character or appearance of the locality or amenity of nearby residents whilst conforming with the South East Lincolnshire Local Plan and the provisions of the National Planning Policy Framework when viewed as a whole.”