A government cash injection of over £102 million will provide a bricks and mortar upgrade to modernise over 1,000 doctors’ surgeries. The move is expected to enable over 8.3 million more patient appointments each year, boost productivity and improve patient care.
Lord Darzi’s independent review of the NHS found that outdated and efficient buildings create barriers to delivering high-quality patient care and reduce staff productivity.
Many GP surgeries could be seeing more patients but lack the space or the right facilities to accommodate them. Creating new consultation and treatment rooms and making better use of existing space are initiatives described by the Health and Social Care Secretary, Wes Streeting as “quick fixes,” giving patients quicker access to their GP.
This investment in GP facilities – the first significant cash injection since 2020 – is part of the government’s Plan for Change and is part of measures to achieve one of the three key priorities for healthcare, which is shifting care out of hospitals and into the community.
Projects will be delivered during the 2025 to 2026 financial year, with the first upgrades expected to begin in summer 2025.
First step in a long-term programme
The investment has been welcomed by many healthcare leaders and patient groups, with a recognition that this is an important first step to addressing the problems in primary care and providing patients with the kind of health service they deserve.
Ruth Rankine, Primary Care Director at the NHS Confederation, says: “GPs and their teams welcome this vital capital funding to modernise premises to deliver high-quality care, closer to home and fit for the 21st century.
“Primary care is the front door of the health service and has been managing increasing demand, yet a historic lack of capital funding in estates has been one of the biggest barriers to improving productivity and creating buildings suitable for modern health care - with a fifth of GP estates pre-dating the NHS and half more than 30 years old.
“If we are serious about shifting care from hospital to community, from sickness to prevention, and from analogue to digital, then sustained investment in primary and community estates, equipment and technology is vital.”
See the full list of supported schemes in the Primary Care Utilisation and Modernisation Fund 2025 to 2026.
