Executive summary
This insight report is an overview of the outreach with New Addington residents to understand their views and experiences of local health and care services. The NHS South West London engagement team engaged with local residents, community leaders and volunteers at central New Addington community locations to capture a range of insights.
We focussed this work in New Addington as one of Croydon’s Core20 areas where reducing health inequalities is a priority. The purpose was to understand residents’ experiences of local health and care services as well as to ensure residents were involved during the development of the plans for the new health centre in New Addington.
Across the three days of outreach between March and April 2025, we spoke to a total of 33 local residents, volunteers and community leaders who use and visit community services in New Addington.
Key insights:
- More localised health services – residents emphasised the benefits of services being delivered in the local area. Long travel times to Croydon Hospital combined with the cost of these trips, when the cost of living is already a struggle for many, are barriers to people accessing care. People said accessing services such as MRI scans, X-rays, blood tests, and support for the management of long-term conditions closer to home would increase appointment attendance and overall experience.
- Feelings of isolation and disconnect in New Addington with people feeling disconnected from services delivered in other parts of Croydon. They feel they cannot access the services that are needed to support their community and their wellbeing needs. As well as the travel issues, people said they much prefer care delivered in a familiar, walkable setting with staff they know and are familiar with. Local services build trust and confidence, especially among older people and those with mental health conditions.
- Dissatisfaction with primary care access and experience – many residents are frustrated with the GP services in New Addington and highlighted long waits for appointments, short appointments and negative experiences with practice staff. This was seen as justification for attending A&E in non-emergency situations for some, while others avoided care altogether.
Next steps:
This insight is supporting the New Addington Programme Board with planning and next steps of the health facility. It will also be shared with the Clinical Director of the Primary Care Network in New Addington for them to consider alongside their patient experience data and with the estates lead to consider lighting and access to the new centre.
Introduction
This report details the insights collected by the NHS South West London engagement team as part of the outreach with people and communities in New Addington. This work aimed to ensure residents were part of the discussions around the development of the plans for the new health centre in New Addington and to understand local experiences of local health and care services.
Background
The South West London Integrated Care Board (ICB) has been awarded funding for new health care facilities to develop additional diagnostic services to help manage backlogs created by the pandemic, improve care, reduce waiting times and to address increasing demand for local services.
In Croydon, the ICB received £14 million for a health care facility at New Addington and Purley. Both locations were selected to support ongoing joined up care in local communities (based on high streets, in areas well served by public transport) and to deliver on ambitions to reduce health inequalities, by targeting people with the greatest health needs (aging population and those living in more deprived neighbourhoods).
New Addington site
The construction work on the site of the former New Addington Leisure Centre will extend both diagnostics and primary care in the local community. The aim is to increase access in areas most needed to make it easier for residents to access essential health services.
We worked with the residents of New Addington during the building phase of the new health centre to understand what they would like in the building space and their barriers to accessing healthcare services. It is our intention to continue this ongoing conversation during the development of the project and have identified groups that are community assets to continue to consult.
Methodology
Our approach
We knew from previous engagement we have carried out in the area that the best way was to build on local connections to help facilitate these conversations and we therefore contacted the New Addington Community Facilitator for Croydon Voluntary Action. We wanted to understand local knowledge of the area and to find out about existing opportunities to engage with New Addington residents.
We explored local organisations and engaged two organisations supporting residents in the New Addington – New Addington Pathfinders and The Family Centre. We wanted to identify activities they would be happy to invite us to engage with local people.
Who we reached
As part of the outreach, we engaged with 28 New Addington residents. We also had one-to-one conversations with 5 people who as well as being residents themselves are local community leaders with expertise and knowledge of the communities that live in New Addington and were able to offer additional insight for our engagement.
We ran the following engagement and outreach:
- The Family Centre in Fieldway (New Addington)
- Food Stop Shop – seven people and two community workers. We held community conversations while people were waiting to use the food shop. This is a community focused shop which operates a membership scheme for a small donation offers members access to fresh food for residents of Fieldway and New Addington.
- Food for Thought group – five people who attended the monthly meal cooked and prepared at the Food Stop Shop for users of the service.
- The Birchwood over 60s group – seven people who attend a weekly social and wellbeing group for over 60’s.
- New Addington Pathfinders at the Pathfinder Octagon building. We spoke to the two volunteers who run the organisation and drop in for residents. They are both long term residents of New Addington who were able to answer questions with their strong knowledge about the community and what they need.
- Community Hub – 10 regular attendees of the Croydon Voluntary Action (CVA) weekly community hub for residents and volunteers at the Family Centre. We attended the community hub and held an hour long focus group.
Key insights
People’s access to health and care
Services closer to home would save time and money for New Addington residents. People are already worried about cost of living and are struggling to afford to get to their health appointments further away from the area. It was flagged by people aged over 60 years old that you are not able to use a bus pass until 9am and it is “impossible” to get to an early appointment for people who rely on free bus travel.
New Addington residents feel isolated. Croydon hospital is an hour away by bus and many people in the area do not drive or cannot afford a taxi. Being able to walk to the centre was seen as convenient and motivating, people felt having health services locally would encourage them to attend their appointments. Getting support for health and care in the community is preferred to accessing services in hospitals.
“There are 22,000 people living in New Addington and we are 8.5 miles from the nearest hospital – we need these services.”
People would be more likely to attend an appointment closer to home than if it was in hospital or further afield. One lady often cancels appointments at the Purley centre and said she wouldn’t do this as often if it was closer.
Familiar environments are important to people and encourage people who fear going to hospital to attend their appointments, familiar faces at the centre also makes people feel comfortable to receive treatment.
Attract better local food options and better supermarkets – people suggested using the space for a new supermarket, ideally attached to the existing building in New Addington. There was a strong feeling that New Addington is often overlooked by larger supermarket chains, contributing to limited access to affordable, healthy food options.
“All we have here is junk food and vape shops. It would be nice to have a healthy supermarket nearby.”
Treatment for minor injuries –several people identified the need for somewhere to go for urgent issues that need to be checked but not life-threatening. People may be more likely to get help if they need it if this was not provided in a hospital environment. New Addington Pathfinders speak to many people who are afraid of going into to hospital for fear of not coming out.
Experiences of health and care services
Dissatisfaction with GP services in New Addington – although some people were happy with the service at their practice, most people found them frustrating.
People felt;
- Appointments should be longer – 10 minutes is not long enough to cover some issues and for those who have multiple needs.
- There is a polarised view of using digital technology – some don’tlike the online booking forms and others were happy they were able to book appointments at their practice via the NHS App.
- People can feel like a burden because of language used by practice staff. Getting questions like “why are you here” when arriving for appointments from receptionists to GPs can make people feel like their reasons for seeking support are not valid.
Frustration at GP access is causing people to go to A&E. Some feel they have to go to A&E because their practice kept cancelling their appointments and another lady waited two weeks for her test results and went to A&E so she could get them from a consultant there.
Other people are put off attending A&E – because of the long waiting times with some people scared that once they go into hospital they might not come out. Someone said Mayday (Croydon Hospital) is still referred to as “may die”.
Others are worried about a loss of income if they are waiting for hours to be treated. The longer they wait, the less they get paid as they are not working. People are dissatisfied physiotherapy services – it was felt after getting an appointment you are left to get on with the rest of their treatment yourself. They would like someone they can have a follow up appointment with, or at least someone else to help with exercises prescribed.
Suggestions for the new health facility and local services
The top services people would like to see outside of their hospital in New Addington are MRI scans, X-rays and blood tests.
- There were experience of long wait times for MRI scans, with some waiting for up to a year for a scan.
- Importance was placed on being able to get an X-ray closer to home which would be easier than travelling to Croydon Hospital and more convenient than waiting in A&E.
- Blood tests and having an additional phlebotomy service would be useful and was popular across all age groups. Older people at the over 60s birchwood club identified the need for more blood test appointments because of having current long wait times and others suggested needing a specific young people’s blood test service as not all GPs are able to offer this.
Similar services to the Purley Centre which was mentioned frequently as a useful service and people would like to be able to access similar services closer to New Addington.
Increased access to tests and check-ups for people who have long term conditions and or are regular users of services. People managing long term conditions, either for themselves or on behalf of other people said it would be more beneficial for them in terms of managing their condition (where they require regular tests and treatment) to access services outside of hospitals.
The types of services people would like to see include:
- COPD reviews, tests for people with heart conditions and asthma clinics were mentioned by residents.
- Support for people with diabetes, who require regular tests and check-ups which would be more convenient to get done in the local area. New Addington Pathfinders highlighted it can be expensive for people to eat well in an area of higher deprivation. They support more people with diabetes or who are obese and welcomed support closer to home for people with these conditions.
- Attending kidney dialysis appointments three times a week – there are several patients in the area who are getting this treatment and having the spend the time and money travelling to the hospital three times a week. Less time travelling to appointments would be a big benefit to patients and their families that support them.
“It can be a lot to organise getting my mum to and from her kidney dialysis appointments in Croydon Hospital 3 times a week because I’m also a carer for my father with dementia. I am not able to leave him for the whole time of the appointment with the travel included so it takes a lot of organising with other family members”
People also mentioned other services that are missing from the area and they felt were important to be able to access:
- Out of hours services – New Addington residents would like a service that is open beyond the 9-5 working hours and is open on the evenings and weekends.
- More access to mental health services – a wellbeing drop in was suggested as a place to attend if you needed support rather than struggling to get a GP appointment. People were unaware where to go in a crisis situation and mentioned that Samaritans locally isn’t much help.
- Addiction support services were seen as important, but they would need to be culturally competent and tailored to the needs of the local community.
- More podiatry appointments – it is felt that services are oversubscribed.
“I’m diabetic and more likely to need podiatry support, currently not I’m not entitled to get free podiatry treatment”
- A safe space for young people – we heard from working age and older people that they were quite concerned that young people had limited places to go where they feel safe, to talk about issues that may be affecting them like vaping addictions and mental heath issues.
- People spoke about more access to sexual health services as the service at Croydon Hospital isn’t private and doesn’t make users feel comfortable.
- More prenatal and antenatal services people would like a drop in for new parents and babies to have check-ups and a place for pregnant people to ask questions. Getting an ultrasound test was mentioned by someone who wanted more access for maternity services.
“I didn’t get my baby weighed after being discharged because it was so far away”
- Audiology and ear micro suction treatment – the lack of services currently is an issue especially for older people. the over 60s group spoke about their issues with hearing loss and how it would benefit them to able to access free audiology and ear micro suction treatment (as this is no longer available in GP surgeries).
- Limited pharmacy services – people highlighted the recent closure of a Boots pharmacy which has resulted in only one left in the area and there is need for another one.
- Dentistry – The is a lack of available of dental services and appointments, as well as emergency dental services too.
If the new health centre is going to be at the proposed site, people had some concerns about the location. The location needs to feel safe and welcoming. There were concerns that the site is currently not very well lit and there has a history of violence there, with worries about vandalism at the proposed site. Others suggested that environmental impacts should be considered. The NHS needs to plan for the increased use of cars in the area and issues with traffic and parking.
Feedback from local residents about being ‘over-engaged’
There was feedback about NHS teams speaking to local people resulting in very little action. The group at the Community Hub shared that NHS teams had attended previous sessions and made promises they didn’t keep. People felt disengaged and “done to.” They needed reassurance that their feedback wouldn’t be ignored again. We acknowledged the current pressures facing the NHS and reassured them that we would return to share updates. We also shared where their feedback from the last session has been taken.
Next steps
We intend to maintain an ongoing dialogue with people in New Addington through this period of change in the way they access services including a regular presence at the Local Community Partnerships for update (and other locations as appropriate). We are closing the feedback loop with those who participated and intend to return to community organisations offering to answer any unanswered questions.
This insight is supporting the New Addington Programme Board with planning and next steps of the health facility. It will also be shared with the Clinical Director of the Primary Care Network in New Addington for them to consider alongside their patient experience data the estates lead to consider lighting and access to the new centre.
Our findings were reported to Croydon Place Committee, the People and Communities Engagement Group and the Croydon Place Quality Collaborative meeting to ensure local services meet the needs of the communities living and experiencing services in New Addington.