Abbey Medical Practice this week celebrated its ‘grand re-opening’ at an event to celebrate the culmination of two-years’ work to significantly redevelop and extend the practice, providing the very best environment for its patients and its clinicians.

Situated on Monks Road in Lincoln, Abbey Medical Practice looks after 8,100 patients, most of whom live in the local area, and has benefitted from £1.2 million of funding, allowing it to redevelop the practice site, including a large extension, and provide much needed additional clinical space, helping to generate a vastly improved environment for patients and clinicians alike.

Having faced challenges since 2017 with issues relating to the building it is housed in, notably around lack of clinical space and storage, Abbey Medical Practice has worked closely with NHS Lincolnshire ICB and the Lincolnshire Co-op, on a project to redevelop and extend the practice, that brings with it a significant investment in primary care in the heart of the local community

“With a focus on providing the best possible services and the best possible environment for patients and clinicians, the process to look at what could be done to find a more sustainable, long-term solution originally started back in 2017, and a couple of years later we began to work up a business case, working closely with the CCG (the predecessor to the ICB) and the Lincolnshire Co-op,” explains Mark Henalla, Practice Manager, Abbey Medical Practice.

“By then we had already taken on the patients from the former Arboretum Surgery and we were using its building on an interim basis, then we had to contend with a delay due to covid, but despite this we were really focused on redeveloping and extending the existing Abbey Medical Practice site, with a particular emphasis on creating the best possible clinical space.”

A successful bid led by the then CCG for funding from the national NHS Estates and Technology Transformation Fund (ETTF)*, combined with funding from the Lincolnshire Co-op, and the support of Banks Long & Co, contractors GS Kelsey Ltd, Core Architects and Quadrant Surveying Ltd, meant the re-development and extension of Abbey Medical Practice was able to proceed.

“This is about creating the best possible place for patients to come to and the kind of clinical space most clinicians would aspire to have.  We are very proud to have been able to support the practice to get to this point and really pleased that our successful bid for funding from the national NHS Estates and Technology Transformation Fund, originally worth £300,000, was increased by NHS England to £1,126,000,” comments Sarah-Jane Mills, Director of Primary Care, Communities and Social Value, NHS Lincolnshire ICB.

“This is a significant investment in primary care locally and one that is worth celebrating.  We are fortunate to have been able to work with Abbey Medical Practice, the Lincolnshire Co-op, Banks Long & Co, NHS England and Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust (LCHS), and our partnership working has been crucial to getting through the last couple of years and to this point.  I can’t wait to see how the practice progresses from here.”

One of the key drivers behind the redevelopment and extension of the practice site has been to provide more clinical space and greater range of services for its patients from a modern and fit for purpose building, which now includes a suite of 11 consultation rooms.

“Not only do we want to provide the best possible environment, we also want to provide our patients with better choice, including the ability to access services that they may have previously had to go to hospital for.  In addition, as one of nine local GP practices working closely together under the guise of the IMP Primary Care Network (PCN), expanding and modernising our practices will also enable us to offer services to our patients that are provided by the PCN,” adds Mark.

A key driving force behind the redevelopment of Abbey Medical Practice has been the support of the Lincolnshire Co-op.

“We want to bring together ideas, energy and resources to make life better in our communities,” says Steve Galjaard, Acting Chief Executive of Lincolnshire Co-op.

“Abbey Medical Practice provides a valued service, looking after the health and wellbeing of thousands of people in Lincoln and we’re delighted to have been able to support its redevelopment, working with our partners including the practice team, the ICB, the local contractors GS Kelsey and our agents Banks Long and Co.”

Photo: Councillor Rosanne Kirk, Mayor of Lincoln, and Carol Parker, Assistant Practice Manager, Abbey Medical Practice, cut the ribbon to mark the formal re-opening of the re-developed and extended Abbey Medical Practice, in front of a crowd of invited guests and members of the practice team, Credit: Chris Vaughan Photography Ltd.

Abbey Medical Practice this week celebrated its ‘grand re-opening’ at an event to celebrate the culmination of two-years’ work to significantly redevelop and extend the practice, providing the very best environment for its patients and its clinicians.

Situated on Monks Road in Lincoln, Abbey Medical Practice looks after 8,100 patients, most of whom live in the local area, and has benefitted from £1.2 million of funding, allowing it to redevelop the practice site, including a large extension, and provide much needed additional clinical space, helping to generate a vastly improved environment for patients and clinicians alike.

Having faced challenges since 2017 with issues relating to the building it is housed in, notably around lack of clinical space and storage, Abbey Medical Practice has worked closely with NHS Lincolnshire ICB and the Lincolnshire Co-op, on a project to redevelop and extend the practice, that brings with it a significant investment in primary care in the heart of the local community

“With a focus on providing the best possible services and the best possible environment for patients and clinicians, the process to look at what could be done to find a more sustainable, long-term solution originally started back in 2017, and a couple of years later we began to work up a business case, working closely with the CCG (the predecessor to the ICB) and the Lincolnshire Co-op,” explains Mark Henalla, Practice Manager, Abbey Medical Practice.

“By then we had already taken on the patients from the former Arboretum Surgery and we were using its building on an interim basis, then we had to contend with a delay due to covid, but despite this we were really focused on redeveloping and extending the existing Abbey Medical Practice site, with a particular emphasis on creating the best possible clinical space.”

A successful bid led by the then CCG for funding from the national NHS Estates and Technology Transformation Fund (ETTF)*, combined with funding from the Lincolnshire Co-op, and the support of Banks Long & Co, contractors GS Kelsey Ltd, Core Architects and Quadrant Surveying Ltd, meant the re-development and extension of Abbey Medical Practice was able to proceed.

“This is about creating the best possible place for patients to come to and the kind of clinical space most clinicians would aspire to have.  We are very proud to have been able to support the practice to get to this point and really pleased that our successful bid for funding from the national NHS Estates and Technology Transformation Fund, originally worth £300,000, was increased by NHS England to £1,126,000,” comments Sarah-Jane Mills, Director of Primary Care, Communities and Social Value, NHS Lincolnshire ICB.

“This is a significant investment in primary care locally and one that is worth celebrating.  We are fortunate to have been able to work with Abbey Medical Practice, the Lincolnshire Co-op, Banks Long & Co, NHS England and Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust (LCHS), and our partnership working has been crucial to getting through the last couple of years and to this point.  I can’t wait to see how the practice progresses from here.”

One of the key drivers behind the redevelopment and extension of the practice site has been to provide more clinical space and greater range of services for its patients from a modern and fit for purpose building, which now includes a suite of 11 consultation rooms.

“Not only do we want to provide the best possible environment, we also want to provide our patients with better choice, including the ability to access services that they may have previously had to go to hospital for.  In addition, as one of nine local GP practices working closely together under the guise of the IMP Primary Care Network (PCN), expanding and modernising our practices will also enable us to offer services to our patients that are provided by the PCN,” adds Mark.

A key driving force behind the redevelopment of Abbey Medical Practice has been the support of the Lincolnshire Co-op.

“We want to bring together ideas, energy and resources to make life better in our communities,” says Steve Galjaard, Acting Chief Executive of Lincolnshire Co-op.

“Abbey Medical Practice provides a valued service, looking after the health and wellbeing of thousands of people in Lincoln and we’re delighted to have been able to support its redevelopment, working with our partners including the practice team, the ICB, the local contractors GS Kelsey and our agents Banks Long and Co.”

Photo: Councillor Rosanne Kirk, Mayor of Lincoln, and Carol Parker, Assistant Practice Manager, Abbey Medical Practice, cut the ribbon to mark the formal re-opening of the re-developed and extended Abbey Medical Practice, in front of a crowd of invited guests and members of the practice team, Credit: Chris Vaughan Photography Ltd.