I have been closely involved with the LIFT building program in East London. When the program was first launched in 2003 I was the GP representative on the selection panel for the private partner selection. At the time I was the Chair of the executive committee of the Newham Primary Care Trust. I have been closely associated with promoting LIFT buildings in our area and as a result was appointed the clinical champion for LIFT in Newham.
I was inspired by the concept of super surgeries and of the partnership between several public sector bodies and the private sector. LIFT was like a breath of fresh air the development of primary care buildings and area of neglect for many years in East London.
I was very impressed with the early stages of LIFT and the speed with which it promised to deliver the buildings. I decided I wanted to work in one of the new LIFT buildings. As a result I applied to take over a single handed retirement vacancy in the area of the new LIFT building and resigned my post in an established group practice and with the hope that this would mean I could work in the new super surgery.
Soon after this we were successful in taking over another two local single handed vaccines in Manor Park and were selected to work in the Super Surgery.
Working in The Centre Manor Park the first super surgery to be opened under LIFT is a joy as the building is by far one of the best designed primary care premises in the area. It has transformed the lives of local residents and the working lives of health workers. Although the move has been hardwork the end result has been a vast improving in the services we offer and helped in the recruitment of Doctors in a deprived hard to recruit area.
Many other practices in the area have wanted to have the same opportunity of moving into buildings like the one I work in. However the LIFT buildings are significantly higher in revenue costs than previous methods to provide GP premises like for instance third party developers.
I am not an expert in accounting but as a lay observer I am concerned at the affordability of LIFT.
The building I work in cost £5 million to build and has a service charge of over £1 million per annum which includes repairs and maintenance for the building. This is 20 year contract which is inflation linked and includes hard facilities management cost.
The two LIFT buildings in Newham that have been finished take up 33% of the budget for 8% of the population. See tables below given to me by David Stout, Chief Executive of Newham PCT.