NHS in financial demand over impact of 200 new Shropshire homes on GPs practice

Shropshire’s NHS has made its pitch for funding to offset the impact of 200 new homes on a town - as it details a “significant shortfall” capacity at its local GP practice.

The Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care System (ICB) has responded to Shropshire Council as part of Catesby Estates’ plans to build 200 homes on land off Lamledge Lane in Shifnal.

In the letter the health board made a request for £179,314 from the developers to allow the application to go ahead - funding that would be used for local GP services.

Shifnal has been the focus of a significant amount of housing development in recent years.

The town has also had a new medical practice - The Shifnal and Priorslee Medical Practice - open in 2024.

A letter from the ICB said the practice currently has 14,107 patients, and that the new development is estimated to result in a population increase of 480.

It said the rise is likely to result in around 2,525 contacts to the health service each year.

The letter stated: “The issues with providing primary care services and associated infrastructure to support the growth in population from housing and other developments is significant.

“The NHS does not currently have access to capital funds to address this matter, and funding is expected to be limited for the foreseeable future.

“The ICB is requesting a contribution which would support the development of primary care infrastructure in the area as a consequence of increased demand directly associated with this proposal and has considered various options to address the impact of this and other developments through its strategic planning process.”

The letter outlined that health bosses are aware of the pressure on the GPs services in the area - specifically Shifnal and Priorslee.

It stated: “The independent study of the spatial capacity and sufficiency of practices across the Primary Care Network (PCN) area has identified that there is a significant shortfall of space to deal with future capacity across the PCN.

“This is specifically the case for the Shifnal and Priorslee Medical Practice.”

Detailing its request for £179,314 the letter concluded: “The sum requested has been calculated based on the indicative number of dwellings within this outline submission and directly related to the amount of expansion of current primary care infrastructure that will be required to support the additional patients resulting directly from the proposed development.”

The Catesby Estates application is for a large site to the southeast of the town.

The scheme would involve 16 acres of agricultural land at New Park Farm to the north of Revells Rough, and next to an existing Taylor Wimpey development known as the Thomas Beddoes estate.

A decision on the application will be taken at a later date.