By Isle of Wight Observer
The NHS primary care estate is ‘not fit for purpose’, a member of the Isle of Wight Council has argued in a Westminster briefing session.
Speaking at a meeting in the Terrace Marquee of the House of Commons on Tuesday (February 12), Councillor Chris Whitehouse argued that historical under-investment in maintaining NHS buildings means that ‘General Practitioners don’t have the quality facilities they need to deliver improved services, closer to home, for an ageing and more needy population’.
Chris went on to remind the audience of Members of Parliament and NHS policy-makers that ‘here we are in the 21st century, but many family doctors are still working out of converted Victorian and Edwardian houses, with no options to provide the wider range of nursing and diagnostic services that patients need. These facilities are frankly not fit for purpose’.
The councillor is Chair of the LIFT Council [Local Improvement Finance Trust Council] whose members have invested nearly £3 billion in new primary care facilities over the last decade, delivering rising 300 new GP surgeries and clinics in England.
