Major new medical centre arrives in Tottenham

Welbourne Health Centre, delivered by Haringey Council, is expected to serve 25,000 Haringey residents, reports Miriam Balanescu

A “much-needed” medical centre in development in Tottenham Hale is set to deliver healthcare to an estimated 25,000 residents.

Based at the corner of Monument Way, Chesnut Road and Park View Road, Welbourne Health Centre will sit adjacent to a site where 130 council homes are also currently being built. The medical facilities, delivered by Haringey Council and NHS North Central London Integrated Care Board (ICB), are intended to provide primary care services and safeguard quality healthcare for residents living in the new development and elsewhere.

Across the Welbourne site, three blocks of one, two and three-bedroom flats will be built, along with a raised landscaped courtyard and roof terraces for all residents. Local GP practice, The Lawrence House Group, will be relocating its four Haringey-based surgeries to Welbourne Health Centre. The development was given the go-ahead in the hope that it will “significantly improve health facilities and opportunities” in the borough.

In a joint statement, Ruth Gordon, cabinet member for house building, placemaking and development and Lucia das Neves, cabinet member for health, social care and wellbeing, said: “This is a milestone for residents in Tottenham and across the borough as health partners work to deliver a much-needed healthcare centre on the Welbourne site. We are committed to working closely with our partners in the Integrated Care Board, to develop a facility that will give local people access to excellent health facilities.

“Our community is at the heart of everything we do. We continue to work in partnership with local NHS partners to help deliver new facilities in additional locations that meet the health and well-being needs of people in our borough, to help them live healthy and fulfilling lives.”

This comes amidst widespread pressures in the NHS, with a national staff vacancy rate of 9.7% recorded in September 2022.

Rachel Lissauer, director of integration for Haringey at ICB, said: “The Welbourne Health Centre development is part of a series of primary care estates improvement projects. Some GP practices are operating from converted residential properties that are not fit for purpose or fully accessible. This transformation programme aims to address these issues and we will see a number of GP practices moving into modern, spacious buildings more suitable for delivering GP services over the next few years. This is fantastic news for Haringey patients and for practice staff too.”

Dr John Rohan, GP partner at Lawrence House Surgery, said: “The Welbourne development is great news for our patients and staff. It has been a long process to get to this stage, but we are very excited to be within touching distance of achieving our aim of having a fit for purpose, state-of-the-art facility.

“Our patient list size has increased over time and given the new housing developments locally, we expect patient numbers to continue to rise. The new surgery will allow us to expand and develop the primary care services that we can offer to our patients.”

Rachel added: “In terms of developing and expanding the primary care workforce, many Haringey GP practices are teaching practices, training our future GPs and practice nurses. Plus, practice teams now include a wide range of health professionals, such as community pharmacists and health and wellbeing coaches for example, who work as part of a multidisciplinary team with GPs and practice nurses to support patients.”

To address staff shortages, Health Education England (HEE) has also confirmed funding for 200 apprentices to train as doctors over the next two years, one first step in resolving nationwide NHS staff shortages.

The latest data published in January regarding North Middlesex Hospital, located nearby Haringey in Edmonton, showed that in December 2022 1,425 patients waited for more than four hours to be seen in A&E, while 859 patients waited for more than twelve hours. These pressures further culminated in strike action for fair pay taken by ICB on 15th and 20th December, and by London Ambulance Service members on 11th January.

Chief executive of North Mid Dr Nnenna Osuji said: “North Mid’s emergency department sees some of the highest numbers of patients in London and a combination of factors – weather, circulating viruses, patients with multiple conditions who require complex care – can add to demand for emergency and inpatient care.

“A range of measures have been introduced to ensure our patients receive the best care possible. These include: a GP service to assess patients when they arrive at our emergency department; expanding our same day emergency care area to enable more patients to receive treatment without being admitted; opening a community rehabilitation ward to help facilitate early discharge; opening a medical day hospital where elderly and frail patients can receive specialist care to
help keep them healthy and avoid hospital stays.

“Our staff are working above and beyond in challenging circumstances, and I would like to put on record my thanks to every member of Team North Mid for their ongoing dedication.”

In 2015, a joint report from Haringey Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and NHS England identified a need for a new medical facility in the borough, following which a task force was formed including officers from the council, NHS England and the CCG, local councillors and Healthwatch Haringey.

The former Welbourne Community Centre was selected as the most suitable location for the development. The development is expected to be completed by Haringey Council in the
summer this year.

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