The centre would bring services including GPs and pharmacies under one roof
The Hucknall Sixth Form Centre building on Portland Road(Image: Joseph Raynor/Nottingham Post)
Health Secretary Wes Streeting has blasted “hot air” over a major NHS centre in Hucknall that has still not been delivered four years after it was promised.
The local MP has secured a meeting with Mr Streeting over the issue after it was recently confirmed that a site supposedly subject to “advanced talks” with the NHS had now gone on the market.
The NHS says the proposed site was “financially unviable” but Michelle Welsh, the Labour MP for the Sherwood Forest constituency covering Hucknall, says people in Hucknall have “waited long enough”.
Speaking in the House of Commons on Tuesday (October 21), the MP said that “demand for GPs is overwhelming” in Hucknall.
“Promises were made by the previous government but never delivered. Meanwhile, the independents have done nothing but point fingers,” the MP said.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting agreed to meet with Michelle Welsh to investigate the failure to deliver the long-promised project.
Mr Streeting condemned years of Conservative neglect and “hot air from independents who enjoy commentating but never take responsibility for delivery.”
The Ashfield Independents claimed just before local elections they fought in May that the district council they run was in “advanced talks” with the NHS about turning the Hucknall Sixth Form Centre on Portland Road into a super health centre.
Ashfield District Council then confirmed after May’s election that it never even had a reply from the NHS to the proposal.
Hucknall was one of six UK towns first shortlisted in 2021 to host a new super health and wellbeing hub, which would have brought services including GP practices and pharmacies under one roof.
This programme was paused by the last Conservative government in 2023 and funding uncertainty has dogged it ever since.
The NHS previously said converting the sixth form building into a health centre would have cost up to £16 million and there there was “no indication this level of capital will be available in the near future”.
The Ashfield Independents leader Jason Zadrozny and Ashfield District Council were approached for further comment.
Michelle Welsh added: “This so-called super health hub has become a symbol of failure.
“Families in Hucknall deserve a modern, accessible healthcare system – not endless excuses and false hope. I will keep pushing until we see real progress and real delivery.”