MAJOR repairs are to be carried out to Ulverston's purpose built health centre which opened just ten years ago.

Ulverston Community Health Centre will have to close for around three months to allow the work to get underway - forcing its two GP practices to temporarily relocate.

The move - which could see Dr Murray and Partners and Dr Johnston and Partners operate from neighbouring Gill Rise - could take place next month though an exact date has not yet been confirmed.

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The work will involve replacing the Stanley Street centre's entire hot water system, including all pipes, at a cost thought to be estimated at more than £300,000.

Thousands of patients in the town are registered with both practices - though staff say they are working to keep any disruption to services to a minimum while surgeries are held in another property.

Tim Jackson, practice manager for Dr Murray and Partners, explained the work was likely to be extensive forcing the doctors, nurses and support staff to vacate the property entirely.

"The water system has failed this week for the sixth time this year but it's happened around 40 or 50 times in the last five years.

"It's incredibly frustrating. We want this issue fixed so that we can offer the service that everyone wants."

The overhaul is set to see the replacement of corroded copper pipes with stainless steel alternatives.

A new plant room is also on the cards to provide the building with its own water supply for the first time in a bid to solve the ongoing issues once and for all.

However, securing permission to relocate to vacant Gill Rise, a former dementia assessment unit, has been the cause of an 18 month delay for the relocation of the practices.

Mr Jackson added: "The water system has been a major problem here.

"We're not sure why 10 year old copper pipes would be rotten.

"We just want this resolved as quickly as possible for our patients and staff."

Ulverston Health Centre was commissioned and owned by Cumbria Primary Care Trust - an organisation that was superceded in 2013 by the Cumbria Clinical Commissioning Group.

The building is now owned and maintained by NHS Property Services Ltd, the estates arm of the NHS.

A spokesman for NHS Property Services said: "We are working closely with staff at the health centre to rectify the situation imminently. "Water supply to this site has historically been problematic, complicated by the fact the water pump is located in a shared building that is owned by the local NHS Trust and not NHS Property Services.

"We have identified a longer term solution for the health centre which is for the site to have its own independent plant room, utilising its own energy and water supply and we are currently working on plans to progress this."