Our current GP surgery building is very old – over 100 years. The building is too small, and it is hard to give you the best care in the space we have. We need more private space in the reception area and there are not enough toilets or parking. The parking is a particular issue and frustration.

NPC Lintonville cares for 15,586 patients and because the building is too small, we can’t grow or offer new services. It also stops us from working more closely with other health, community and voluntary organisations. This matters because many of our patients need more support due to long-term health problems and we have a growing, older population. We want to do more to help our patients and Ashington residents stay healthy and feel well.

Our proposed plan

After lots of thought and discussions, including with the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB), we hope to move the surgery, some community health services, and the pharmacy to a new building – the Ashington Workspace site on Lintonville Parkway (near Lidl). The North East and North Cumbria ICB will need to approve our plans.

The new site would offer both health and wellbeing services and support. The GP practice, other health services and pharmacy will mostly be on the ground floor. A new community hub would be on the first floor, for both patients and residents to access.

The new site is less than 500 metres from the current surgery and near the main bus station.

It will have more parking that is easy to access and free to people using services in the building. This plan supports the NHS 10-year plan to give care closer to home and to work more with NHS, community and voluntary services.

Next steps

We hope to start work on the new building in early 2026. It will take up to a year to complete. The current surgery will stay open during this time, and we’ll tell you more as the proposed surgery move gets closer.

We need your views

We want to hear what you think, as your views are important to us. You can share your thoughts over the next eight weeks.

Here’s how you can get involved:

• Fill out an online survey by Thursday 25 September 2025. Healthwatch Northumberland can help you fill the survey out. Their contact details are below.

• Ask for a paper survey at the surgery reception. It needs to be returned to the surgery by Thursday 25 September 2025.

• Come to a drop-in session at Hirst Welfare Centre, Alexandra Road, Ashington, NE63 9HN, on Monday 11 August, between 3.30pm and 6.30pm. Thank you to everyone who attended this session.

• Come to a drop-in session at our current NPC Lintonville surgery on Wednesday 3 September between 10am and 1pm or on Wednesday 10 September between 4pm and 6.30pm. Our team will be on hand to have a chat with you.

• Join an online session with Healthwatch Northumberland on Wednesday 17 September between 6pm and 7pm. To join, please email helenb@healthwatchnorthumberland.co.uk or call 03332 408 468.

• Write to us at NPC Lintonville, Lintonville Terrace, Ashington, NE63 9UT, drop in a letter at reception or email us at nencicb-nor.npc.lintonville@nhs.net.

• We also plan to run focus groups and a community café in the autumn, where we’ll talk with patients, residents and local organisations and groups about what health and support services the community needs.

About us

In January 2024, Valens Medical Partnership joined Northumbria Primary Care (NPC). Lintonville Medical Group was part of Valens and has now been rebranded as NPC Lintonville. We would like your thoughts on what we should call our proposed new surgery and you can tell us in the survey.

NPC is a not-for-profit organisation. This means we use any extra money to improve patient care. We run 12 GP practices from 22 sites in Northumberland and North Tyneside and work in neighbourhoods. Your practice is part of the Central Northumberland neighbourhood.

More information

To help answer any other questions you may have, a frequently asked questions sheet can be found here. You can also get a hard copy from the surgery.

Once we’ve collected everyone’s feedback, we will share a summary with you, the North East and North Cumbria ICB and other stakeholders, and let everyone know the next steps. If you or someone you know needs this information in another language or format, please let us know. Thank you for your time and support.