Community Health Partnerships (CHP) along with Hull Citycare (LIFTCo), Sewell Advisory (project management) and Sewell Construction have completed two key refurbishment projects in Hull, delivering four new clinical rooms for the Haxby Group GP team. These projects, located at Kingswood Health Centre and Orchard Park, enable the Haxby Group to offer an additional 13,000 patient appointments per year for each site. £143,900 funding for each building was provided by the NHS England Utilisation and Modernisation Fund (UMF).
Delivered on time and within budget, the works involved repurposing underutilised administrative spaces into modern, clinically compliant consulting rooms.
Strategic investment in local care
The refurbishments at Kingswood and Orchard Park were funded by a £143,900 investment per site from the NHS England UMF. The works included full clinical fit outs, including new plumbing, electrics, clinical-grade flooring, and compliant taps and fittings.
Starting in October 2025 and finishing in December 2025, the projects were delivered through a collaborative partnership between CHP, the Haxby Group, Citycare Hull (LIFTCo), project management by Sewell Advisory, with Sewell Construction, and the Humber and North Yorkshire ICB.
A focus on Orchard Park and Kingswood Health Centres
Both sites are high quality, modern, accessible, multi-use health centres with a central role in their respective communities:
- Orchard Park: A 4,448m² three-storey health centre serving an urban area with significant health needs. The building is a dual head tenancy with Hull City Council, housing two GP practices, a library, customer services, and a pharmacy. The conversion of two administration rooms into clinical space for the Haxby Group GP teams ensures this community asset is used to its full potential.
- Kingswood Health Centre: A 1,017m² two-storey building in a more rural area with residents with high health needs. The two new clinical rooms on the ground floor will support the Haxby Group in managing rising patient demand in this growing area, while the first floor hosts outpatient and community services.
Improving access and supporting the workforce
The primary objective of these schemes is to reduce appointment wait times and improve accessibility. Beyond patient care, the additional rooms provide the capacity required for Haxby Group to continue recruiting and training GP trainees, supporting the wider local workforce strategy.
The projects align with the Humber and North Yorkshire Primary Care Collaborative priority of improving access and the GP Forward View (GPFV), which focuses on developing resilient, multi-disciplinary teams within local neighbourhoods. By providing care in a local community setting, the schemes also help alleviate pressure on nearby acute hospitals.
I am delighted to see these two projects at Kingswood and Orchard Park reach completion under the Utilisation and Modernisation Fund (UMF), on budget and on time. By working closely with Citycare, the Sewell Group, and the GP team at the Haxby Group, we have repurposed underutilised space to create significant clinical capacity where it is needed most. Delivering the ability for 26,000 additional patient appointments per year is a fantastic outcome that demonstrates our commitment to a more efficient, accessible, and sustainable NHS estate. These refurbishments ensure that our modern, flexible buildings are equipped to support the Humber and North Yorkshire ICB’s priority of improving local access to care
It’s been fantastic to work on this project to deliver new clinical space at the two health centres. Our team is really proud of the end result, and we hope it’ll help the medical teams provide an even better service for patients in Hull.
About the NHS England Utilisation and Modernisation Fund (UMF)
The Utilisation and Modernisation Fund is a national NHS England initiative designed to maximise the efficiency of the existing NHS estate. The fund focuses on repurposing underused areas within buildings to create additional clinical capacity, enabling primary care providers to expand appointment capacity and make better use of their buildings. It focuses on low cost, high impact improvements that can quickly support patient access and local workforce needs.
Read: Primary Care Utilisation and Modernisation Fund 2025 to 2026 – GOV.UK
CHP role supporting the Utilisation and Modernisation Fund projects
The CHP team are delivering 16 UMF-supported projects working with partners Nationally across all CHP regions. With Hull and Greater Manchester projects successfully completed, a further 13 schemes are at various stages in the pipeline for 2025-26, all aimed at modernising primary care infrastructure and improving operational efficiency.
NHSE are working on a capital programme for 2026-27.
CHP and its partners will continue to work together to deliver the remaining UMF projects and support sustainable, accessible primary care for communities across the region.
Read: Over 130,000 GP appointments to be made available across the NHS LIFT estate (Feb 2026)
The UMF Programme provides a much needed boost to local GP practices and the communities they support. By investing in flexible clinical spaces across the LIFT estate, GP provisions can deliver more services from high quality, purpose built environments within local neighbourhoods. These improvements will enable practices to see more patients and ultimately improve health outcomes. We’re proud to work alongside our NHS partners to ensure these enhancements make a real difference for patients who rely on timely, accessible primary care.
Get support from CHP
Get in touch with your CHP Regional Director and regional Property and Operations team to find out how they can support diagnostic services at CHP buildings providing high-quality, modern, core NHS facilities for patients in their local communities.
