A STATE-OF-THE-ART medical centre in Milton Keynes has now reached completion thanks to national contractor Willmott Dixon. The £9.5m facility, which is due to provide additional health care capacity for residents within the Western Expansion Area of the city, was handed over this month (July 2020).
The now complete Whitehouse Medical Centre – delivered on behalf of Milton Keynes Council – will serve around 22,500 people living nearby and will also be a base for Thames Valley Police. The ‘all in one’ facility covers 30,400 sq ft and includes consulting rooms, minor surgery and recovery rooms, nurse-led treatment rooms, a pharmacy, ancillary clinical support rooms and multi-purpose/health education rooms. There is also space set aside for use by Thames Valley Police and an ambulance standby, alongside a café and car parking.
Procured via Major Works England and Northern Ireland – a part of the Scape National Construction framework – the project is visually striking thanks to its design by Race Cottam Associates.
Michelle Cotterill, operations director at Willmott Dixon in the Midlands, said: “Whitehouse Medical Centre is an advanced healthcare facility and, as such, is a key development for Milton Keynes. This is our 14th project for Milton Keynes Council in the past five years, which provides a clear demonstration of the value that can be generated through long-term relationships.
“We are very proud to have helped deliver this important scheme for the region, which will benefit the lives of residents within Milton Keynes by providing the highest-quality medical care and health facilities. As with all our projects, we aim to honour our ‘purpose beyond profit’ values and leave a lasting legacy to support local communities. We have done this throughout this project by investing £1m into the provision of training and employment opportunities for local people and community activities.
“These initiatives included providing 2,600 hours of support to local unemployed adults and 47 school or college workshop sessions. During the scheme, our team also donated 3,700 hours to support young people into work, 15 weeks of valuable work experience and 56 hours of voluntary work within the community.”
The on-site team also worked closely with Milton Keynes Work Tree Charity and the Macintyre Charity throughout the build and upon completion, the contractor has delivered over £610,000 of social return on investment.
The medical centre is the second of its kind that the national contractor has completed within the region, having handed over the Brooklands Health Centre in 2018. The facility, which will be operated by Milton Keynes Clinical Commissioning Group and leased to local NHS partners by Milton Keynes Council, is another step forward in supporting the growing population within the area, with the city having recently been recognised as one of the fastest-growing in the UK*.
Tracy Darke, director of planning, strategic transport and placemaking from Milton Keynes Council, said: “We’re pleased to have delivered this essential piece of infrastructure to Milton Keynes’ growing Western Expansion Area.
“Working collaboratively with our partners, particularly Willmott Dixon, has been integral to ensuring the project has been delivered on time and on budget. We’re thankful to everybody involved and look forward to seeing the new medical centre in Whitehouse delivering vital healthcare services to local people.”
Mark Robinson, Scape Group chief executive, said: “Primary care facilities are becoming ever-more important to communities up and down the UK. This is a fantastic example of a forward-thinking local authority responding to the needs of a changing population and using its assets in a way that maximises the impact of local service provision.
“By delivering this project through our National Construction framework, that local impact was significantly enhanced, as well as being delivered quickly and to the highest quality. The results that Wilmott Dixon has achieved with Milton Keynes Council are truly exemplary.”
Willmott Dixon worked together with property consultants, Gleeds and structural engineers, BWB Consulting Limited to deliver the scheme.