Griffin Close Surgery in Frizington is set to reopen next year following £336,000 of government investment and joint work between Josh MacAlister MP, North Cumbria Primary Care Alliance – Fellview and Pears Cumbria School of Medicine to bring the building back into use and recruit more doctors to West Cumbria.
The surgery has been closed for several years because of staffing pressures, with patients instead accessing services through Fellview Healthcare’s other practices.
Following work between Josh and North Cumbria Primary Care Alliance – Fellview, £336,730 of government funding announced to improve GP premises has been allocated to upgrade Griffin Close to reopen it as a surgery, while a new partnership with the Pears Cumbria School of Medicine will also see it used as a GP training hub.
The training hub will give medical students and future GPs experience of working in primary care in West Cumbria and help to encourage more doctors to build their careers and stay in Cumbria.
As a direct result of this partnership, Fellview Healthcare will recruit new GPs who will combine working as doctors across its practices with helping to train the next generation of medical students and GPs.
The additional doctors will work across Fellview’s practices in Frizington, Cleator Moor, Egremont and Whitehaven, increasing GP capacity across the whole area.
Josh MacAlister MP said:
“Getting Griffin Close reopened has been a real priority for me, so I’m delighted that working with North Cumbria Primary Care Alliance – Fellview we’ve secured over £336,000 to bring the surgery back into use.
“But this is about more than reopening one building. The new partnership with the Pears Cumbria School of Medicine will bring additional GPs into Fellview’s practices across West Cumbria, while also helping to train the doctors of the future.
“That means more GP capacity for patients in Frizington, Cleator Moor, Egremont and Whitehaven now, and a stronger pipeline of doctors choosing to train, work and hopefully stay in Cumbria for the long term.”
In a joint statement Sue Porto, Managing Director of North Cumbria Primary Care Alliance, and Dr Ami Hall, GP Lead for Copeland, said:
“We are delighted to be moving forward with the refurbishment and reconfiguration of our GP surgery in Frizington, made possible through a successful bid for £366,730 of NHS England Primary Care Utilisation and Modernisation Funding.
“The investment will increase the number of consultation rooms, improving the facilities available to deliver care to our patients, while also creating a dedicated training hub for medical students from Pears Cumbria School of Medicine (PCSM), a partnership between the University of Cumbria and Imperial College London.
“North Cumbria Primary Care is committed to working in partnership with PCSM to train and inspire the next generation of doctors and GPs to build their careers here in Cumbria. This is particularly important for communities such as Frizington and West Cumbria, which have experienced significant GP workforce shortages for many years.
“This investment is therefore about much more than improving a building. It is about increasing our capacity to care for local people today, while investing in the future primary care workforce that our communities will need for years to come.”
Professor Mary Morell, Head of Pears Cumbria School of Medicine, said:
“This project represents much more than a new training facility. It creates a shared educational resource for West Cumbria that will support not only Pears Cumbria School of Medicine students, but also medical students from other institutions, doctors in postgraduate training, and a wide range of other healthcare professionals developing their skills in community settings. By bringing together training funding, clinical expertise, and local partnerships, we can provide high-quality learning opportunities while strengthening healthcare services for the people of Cumbria.”