The Citycare and Shared Agenda teams are getting creative to find alternative ways of funding health facilities.
Following a recent success in securing £60,000 for Primary Care in North Lincolnshire, the teams are helping commissioners in their efforts to support front line services to meet ever-rising demand.
With access to NHS capital limited, Citycare and Shared Agenda are looking at indirect ways of funding expansions and new provision.
One such potential source of funding is through Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.
This legislation, also known as “planning obligations” or “developer contributions”, was brought in to help mitigate the impact of developments by securing funding to benefit the local community. The funding secured is used to improve the local infrastructure, that might otherwise be adversely affected by the development.
This involves working closely with both Health and Local Authority Planning team colleagues to closely monitor housing applications. When relevant schemes are identified which meet the criteria for Section 106, the team formally request developer contributions on behalf of the health system.
Citycare and Shared Agenda have developed a bespoke methodology to quantify the contributions sought – looking at current provision and capacity, and assessing the impact of the proposed development on the patient list size, especially where multiple practices could be affected.
One recent success has seen the teams secure £60,000 for Primary Care within North Lincolnshire. North Lincolnshire has seen significant housing growth in recent years, with Scunthorpe in particular set to have around 2,500 new homes built.
Whilst the growth is positive, GP surgeries across North Lincolnshire are facing huge challenges with space limitations, and many require investment to increase capacity for the delivery of services. The lack of available space presents a significant challenge in terms of accommodation capacity and suitability.
The funding will be used to expand one of the practices most affected by the housing development, ensuring people living in the new housing development have access to family doctors when they need it.
Harriet Deverell, Junior Consultant at Shared Agenda said;
“It has been great to work in partnership with the NHS and Local Authority, to secure much needed funding for Health in the local area. We hope this is one of many successful applications and we can continue to help support Primary Care in the future”.
This is just one of the services which Citycare provide through the Strategic Partnering Agreement with North Lincolnshire Place.
Additional service offers include:
- Data collection and analysis
- Operational estate management advice
- Estate strategy and planning
- Scheme development support
- Liaison, representation, and stakeholder management
