Overdue new GP practice in Coulsdon could finally become reality
By Harrison Galliven, Local Democracy Reporter
A new GP health centre in Croydon will move one step closer to fruition as a planning application is submitted to build it on a former car park.
Plans to build the centre in Coulsdon have been on the cards for around eight years, with the area suffering from the poorest health provision in the borough.
In a report published this week, Croydon council revealed plans to finalise the deal with the local NHS group to build and pay for the new centre in Coulsdon Town. The £6.3m agreement would see the NHS provide the project funding.
The new centre will be built on the site of the car park formerly occupied by an adult education centre on Malcolm Road. Following its closure in 2015, the council included the site in its second tranche of asset disposals, designed to address the council’s £1.4bn debt burden.
Plans for the new health centre first emerged in 2017, but it took until March 2024 before the council announced the sale of the car park site to the NHS for development.
Following the sale announcement, Croydon South MP and Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp promised residents work would begin on the site within months. However, the council struck a deal with a local car dealership.
The 12-month contract with the dealership reportedly meant that cars would remain on the site until spring this year. It is claimed this agreement has contributed to the delay in the health centre’s delivery.
Despite the delays, the plans continue to receive widespread support from community members. South Croydon only has seven medical facilities compared to the 49 in the rest of the borough. Since 2018, two GP practices have closed, leaving 5,000 affected patients to find an alternative GP.
There is a shortage of local GP provision in Coulsdon specifically with large patient lists and access issues. As a result, 31 per cent of the patients are registered with a GP outside of Coulsdon.
The area also has the highest proportion of older residents in Croydon, with 4.6 per cent of people aged 65 and over-represented by those with dementia.
It also has a high number of care homes and seen significant residential development over the past decade, leading to a sharp rise in the number of people seeking medical services.
Pictured top: Coulsdon Town’s Conservative councillors (from left to right) Luke Shortland, Ian Parker and Mario Creatura with the plans for the new Health Centre (Picture: LDRS)