More available GP slots for Manchester city centre residents as new medical centre unveiled

New Jackson Medical Centre, located across the ground and first floors at Elizabeth Tower on Chester Road, houses new additional practice sites for Cornbrook Medical Centre, Vallance Centre in Ardwick and the Docs, in Bloom Street. It is the first GP medical centre to open in the city centre since the City Health Centre in the Arndale shopping centre in 2009.

Funded with the help of a £2.6m grant from Manchester City Council and £1m from NHS England, and having taken four years to complete, it houses 16 clinical rooms and will eventually be able to serve more than 20,000 patients.

With a school and park also being built in the vicinity, the medical centre will be able to cater for an influx of new and existing residents in and around Manchester city. It will also free up capacity in Cornbrook, Vallance and the Docs, and offer more available appointments.

A wide range of community health services will also feature, along with ultrasound and dermatology services. Thanks to the NHS Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS), GPs will be able to call on care coordinators, pharmacists, social prescribing link workers and physiotherapists in the new building.

It will begin welcoming patients for clinics from Monday 19 June when its opening hours will be 8am until 6.30pm Monday to Friday. The eventual aim is to be operational seven days a week along with extended hours into evenings and weekends to meet the needs of the population.

Daniel Burdett, Relationship Manager at NHS Property Services, said: “This project has been made possible through close collaboration with a diverse range of local partners, all dedicated to delivering exceptional care for patients. The centre is a fantastic example of how the NHS can quickly find solutions for complex local service requirements and we hope it can be used as a blueprint for future estates design.”

Dr Manisha Kumar, Chief Medical Officer for NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care, said: “We’re absolutely delighted to bring this new medical centre to the growing community within Manchester city centre and to be able to gradually free up capacity for members of the existing practices.

“It is important to provide as much choice and flexibility as possible and I’m pleased that city centre residents who currently use the existing practices should now get the choice of using either practice site, depending on their needs.

“Alongside the school and park, we’re pleased to be able to provide some of the infrastructure required to enable Manchester to continue its growth. It is the first of a number of new primary care developments for Manchester in the coming years.”

The building’s green credentials are consistent with NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care’s commitment to achieve a net zero carbon footprint by 2038. It expects to achieve a ‘BREEAM’ environmental rating of ‘excellent’ with its focus on waste management, energy efficiency, transport (proximity to Metrolink stops) and pollution reduction.

The creation of the new Jackson Street neighbourhood by Renaker also supports Manchester City Council’s wider ambition of continued population growth within the city and the demand for quality and low-carbon homes, close to transport hubs. It is important that local services are developed at the same time, particularly in the city where they previously did not exist, in this case New Jackson Medical Centre and Crown Street Primary School, in order to meet the needs of residents and the local community. 

Cllr Thomas Robinson, Executive Member for Healthy Manchester and Social Care at Manchester City Council, said: “We very much welcome the arrival of the New Jackson Street Medical Centre to Manchester. This is the way forward, looking at how we can bring primary care services to where people need them and in a way that gives them more choice and flexibility.

“We hope that this will also help with other parts of the health system across the city including urgent and secondary care, keeping the resident at the heart of everything we do.”

Cllr Bev Craig, Leader of Manchester City Council, said: ‘’Manchester city centre continues to thrive and grow, a testament to Manchester’s reputation as a great place to live, work and invest. We want to keep building new, exciting, and family-friendly neighbourhoods with the services residents need.

“From the outset this has been a priority in the iconic Great Jackson Street area and, by working with developers Renaker, the City Council has been able to deliver a new school and a new medical practice that will serve residents across the city.”

Residents can register for a GP surgery in England for free by using the NHS Choices web page: https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/find-a-GP.