Weekly Update 3

While we await the submission of the outline planning application, we thought it may be helpful to let people know some of the research that's been done in the background and the information we've found. Starting today, we will be providing regular updates on this. FPG would welcome and appreciate everyone thinking about these issues in advance of the public meeting which will happen when the application has landed.

So the first information set is on primary care provision.

Existing GP Capacity Is Already Under Pressure

Hill View Surgery currently serves approximately 8,633 registered patients across two sites. Rainworth and Farnsfield. As it is a single GP contract the numbers per site are not available.

The most recent published NHS workforce data for the Sherwood Primary Care Network (PCN), of which Hill View Surgery is a member, shows an average ratio of approximately 2,540 patients per full-time equivalent (FTE) GP. This exceeds the national average of approximately 2,171 patients per FTE GP and is significantly above the Royal College of General Practitioners' recommended benchmark of 1,800 patients per GP.

This equates to 17% above England average and 41% above RCOG and BMA recommendation

Based on the Office for National Statistics average household size of 2.4 persons per dwelling, the proposed development in Farnsfield of 140 houses would provide an estimated 336 more residents,

Therefore, this added demand would fall on a healthcare system that is already running above both national averages and recognised professional benchmarks.

No Current Capacity Assessment Exists

A Freedom of Information response from NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board dated 2 October 2026 confirms that no capacity assessment has been undertaken for Hill View Surgery within the last three years.

Without an up-to-date assessment, there is no current evidence proving that the practice has either sufficient estate or infrastructure to accommodate the added demand arising from this proposal and other new proposals of housing in Rainworth.

Cumulative impact of housing growth has not been considered.

Outline planning permission has already been granted for application 25/01879/OUTM for up to 70 dwellings at Land West of Allenby Road, Southwell.

The NSDC Officer's Report for that application named Hill View Surgery, Lowdham Medical Practice and Southwell Medical Centre as GP providers in connection to the assessment of healthcare impacts arising from this housing growth. These have been named as the ICB does not support the building of new practices in isolation but instead looks to have infrastructure built into local practices to deliver services.

Despite the ICB saying in their consultation response to the Southwell application that all local GP practices were at capacity NSDC still approved this outline planning application.

It therefore can be predicted that even before a planning application is submitted for 140 houses in Farnsfield, that NSDC Planning Committee has already approved housing growth that is expected to generate more demand on our Farnsfield local primary healthcare services.

Furthermore, for the approved outline Southwell application, infrastructure contributions of £982.00 per dwelling has been agreed. These are provided to make a development acceptable in planning terms and are called Section 106 (s106) health infrastructure contribution. For a 70-house scheme, this gives a financial contribution of £68,740 to support facility extensions and/or reconfigurations.

To note: S106 funds can only be spent on physical capital infrastructure, not staff, running costs or routine maintenance