Eastfield Medical Team Finds a Home Closer to Patients Following Flood Chaos

The Eastfield Medical Centre team has successfully transitioned into new temporary premises within the heart of the community, marking a significant step toward restoring routine care after a major flood rendered their main building unusable.

The original medical centre has been out of action since 26 June 2025, when flooding affected the first floor and caused complex damage to the ground floor, requiring extensive repairs and safety assessments.

The move, which began on Tuesday 16 December, allows the practice to cease most services previously delivered from the more distant Lawrence House Medical Centre, located three miles away. Patients are now asked not to attend Lawrence House for appointments, enquiries, or prescription requests.

The team has secured two new sites in Eastfield to provide local services: the Dentist Rooms within Fashionable Fitness on Dunslow Road and The Lounge at St Cecilia’s on Eastway.

Practice Manager Tammy Stewart expressed the relief felt by the staff:

"The latest is that we moved in the dentist rooms within Fashionable Fitness on Tuesday. That was our go live date for our doctors and our nurses.

We've also moved in on Tuesday to St. Cecilia's which we have a clinical room and a room for our HCA.

We've got four clinical rooms here and we are doing a little bit of a phased move in at the moment because we have got doctors and nurses that have been off sick.

But it's fantastic for us, we are so happy that we've managed to source some local appointments."

The Fashionable Fitness site now hosts four clinical rooms, supporting a range of GP and nurse-led clinics, while St Cecilia’s has a GP and Health Care Assistant onsite, and also serves as a sample drop-off point.

Assistant Practice Manager Wendy Patterson highlighted how crucial the new, central locations are for the most vulnerable residents.

"The patients that we haven't been seeing or haven't been able to get somewhere, we can now get them in and we're working really hard on that.

These rooms here are going to be used for the most frail, the most vulnerable patients, our long-term condition patients, our cancer patients, so that they've got somewhere to come locally. The buses come straight outside this building, Saint Cecilia's is right in the centre of Eastfield. Already we're getting really good feedback that we're here.

It is a good positive move for us and for the patients and for the staff because our staff haven't worked together for some time now. And so this is lovely to have us all back in the community that we serve together."

The immediate benefit for patients is the elimination of expensive and long journeys previously required to access care. Prior to the move, patients faced significant costs travelling to former temporary sites. Tammy and Wendy say the team were aware of the financial burden:

"Our patients was having to travel to Lawrence House which is 3 miles away, St. Catherine's which is 6 miles away, so the bus fairs and the taxi fairs were extortion for them weren't they? I think the taxi fair one way was it £10 to Lawrence House and town back and £15 to £20 to Saint Catherine's. Yes. So the demographic we're in that's asking an awful lot of patients."

Although the bulk of services have been relocated locally, a limited number of interim appointments continue to be offered at St Catherine’s for those patients who are willing and able to travel. First Contact Mental Health appointments are now being held at Castle Health Centre, Scarborough, with patients being contacted directly regarding these details.

The efforts of the practice team and the wider community have been praised by Scarborough MP Alison Hume.

"It's nice to have a little bit of good news and I can't speak highly enough of the work that Tammy and Wendy have been doing and all their staff at Eastfield Medical Centre in really difficult conditions.

But I know I've said it publicly before and I say again there's been a failure of senior management across the board both at the with SSP but particularly with the ICB and Assura the landlords, So I'm just doing what people voted for me to do which is my job which is to get involved and basically crack some heads together and I'm so pleased to be here today and see doctors and nurses seeing patients, a little waiting room, little reception area.

It's just bringing some like routine back into what's been a really difficult situation and it's local and really big shout out to Jamie Millard for leasing the rooms and stepping up as a member of the community. The community here in Eastfield has been incredible. Not just Fashionable Fitness, but St. Cecilia's and Saint Catherine's lots of other organizations and stakeholders.

It's a wonderful community,"

The practice has thanked patients for their understanding and patience while efforts continue to minimise disruption during the ongoing repairs at the main surgery.