Work has begun on the construction of an extension to the Palatine Health Centre in Strang.

The ground at the site was broken by Minister for Health and Social Care Howard Quayle MHK and Member for Primary Healthcare Michael Coleman MLC, using the same spade that cut the first sod for the building of the Jane Crookall Maternity Home on 14 March 1938. 

Senior Partner at Palatine Group Practice Dr Keith Daniels and Chair of Braddan Parish Commissioners Andrew Jessop, along with other representatives, also attended the short ceremony.

Funding for the two story extension of ?635,000 was approved by Tynwald in February as part of the Isle of Man Government’s 2016/17 Budget. It will provide an additional six clinic rooms on the ground floor which will expand the provision of services, including supporting doctors in training. The second floor will remain vacant to give capacity for future development. Additionally the extension can be used independently from the main the building should the need arise – for example during the outbreak of a communicable disease. 

Mr Coleman said: “Currently Palatine and Peel group practices carry out training for junior doctors and vocational training for GPs. In order to be able to continue with this we need dedicated facilities, but our health centres have a fixed number of clinical rooms. 

“This extension will provide the additional capacity required to offer first class medical facilities for training in close proximity to Noble’s Hospital where our junior doctors are based.”

As was the case when the new Palatine Health Centre was announced, the land for the extension has been made available from the ‘Strang Corner Field’ by Braddan Parish Commissioners.

Minister Quayle said: “Additional facilities and capacity in one of the Island’s largest health centres is good news for patients.

“It is imperative that we attract good quality healthcare professionals to the Island so that the Department can provide the excellent care everyone in our community expects and deserves. Our junior doctors training programme, which was recently ranked highly by the General Medical Council, is vital to this. We must do everything we can to ‘up our game’ in attracting trainees and meeting training standards. I am confident these new facilities will do exactly that.”

The development of community based healthcare is part of the Department’s five year strategy which aims to reduce the amount of care being provided at Noble’s Hospital in order to improve convenience for patients and reduce costs.

Over the past 15 years the Department of Health and Social Care has been investing in community health centres for GPs, practice nurses, community nurses and health visitors. As part of Government’s capital programme new health centres have been built in Peel, Laxey, Castletown and Jurby along with four in Douglas and new rented accommodation for surgeries in Ballasalla and Onchan.

Photo - Breaking ground at Palatine Health Centre.