An east Suffolk GP surgery facing a 25% growth in patient numbers has secured significant funding to expand.

East Anglian Daily Times: Tony Fryatt, Suffolk Coastals cabinet member responsible for planning Picture: PHIL MORLEYTony Fryatt, Suffolk Coastals cabinet member responsible for planning Picture: PHIL MORLEY

The £420,000 grant will allow Framlingham Medical Practice to offer an extra 164 appointments a week.

The practice’s nine consulting rooms are currently operating at full capacity.

With housing development in the area the surgery expects to have around 1,500 to 2,000 additional patients on its books in three years.

The 28-week expansion, starting in mid July, will involve the creation of three added consulting rooms, enabling the practice to employ an additional doctor and nurse.

Bosses also hope the project will allow the surgery to offer more services for patients outside of hospital, such as a memory problem assessment and diabetic eye screening.

Other improvements taking place include an expanded dispensary area and a new accessible toilet.

Framlingham Medical Practice, which currently has a patient list of around 9,300, will continue to offer a full service while the work is taking place.

Ann Wybar, acting practice manager, said the extra capacity was “much needed”.

She added: “There are three major housing developments in the pipeline locally which could potentially result in an increase of 25% in patients registered at the practice. This expansion work will enable us to address the increase in patient numbers and deliver long-term benefits for the local population.

“The extra space will enable the practice to employ more staff and deliver more services.”

The funding has been provided by NHS England’s Estates and Technology Transformation Fund and Suffolk Coastal District Council’s Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL).

Tony Fryatt, Suffolk Coastal’s planning chief, said: “It is very rewarding to see the local community benefiting from development and I hope that it will set the scene for others.”

Framlingham Medical Practice is the first to receive a CIL payment from the council.

Kerry Harding, head of estates for NHS England in the east, said the fund was dished out as part of the health service’s commitment to modernise buildings and make better use of technology to help improve GP practices for patients.