Joint military and NHS medical centre to open

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) and NHS will open a new healthcare facility on Catterick Garrison to treat both military personnel and members of the public in North Yorkshire.

Due to open in 2026, the Catterick Integrated Care Centre (CICC) has received £110m of funding, and is the largest collaborative partnership between the NHS and armed forces to date.

The facility will be split between 75% military patients and 25% NHS patients and is projected to treat up to 1,000 people per day.

Col Tariq Ahmad, regional clinical director, called the CICC a "bold and ambitious vision to approach care in an integrated way."

"The project represents a great investment in the people and the place, Catterick Garrison and North Yorkshire," he said.

"The benefits of having all the teams co-located means that you have a collation of expertise, knowledge and experience which are able to work together to optimise patient care."

The centre will offer a range of services, including primary care, rehabilitation, dentistry, mental health support and specialist treatment.

It will cater for military personnel at Catterick Garrison and other bases, including RAF stations.

It will also facilitate out-of-hours and GP appointments for NHS patients, primarily those currently registered at the Harewood Medical Practice in Richmondshire, although other GP practices will be able to refer patients to the centre.

Michelle Hagger, programme manager from NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB), said the NHS had worked closely with the MoD to fulfil the needs of the local area.

"It will hopefully reduce the burden on some of the travel that some of the patients have to do around here," she said.

"At the moment if you have to see a specialist, you may have to go to James Cook [Hospital] in Middlesbrough which is potentially a 40-45 minute drive, so it's easier to come here."

Construction firm Tilbury Douglas was awarded the contract in 2021, and the build incorporates sustainable infrastructure in line with the NHS's 'Net Zero by 2040' commitment.

These include being powered only by electricity, and installing solar PV roof panels.

Col Ahmad added that it was his ambition that the CICC became a "community hub to improve health and wellbeing overall for patients and their families".

"Why should MoD and NHS GPs who would sometimes communicate together about patients operate in two separate silos, when they could be co-located in a new, purpose-built facility?" he added.

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