Work has started on the new £5 million Wellington Way health centre in Bromley-by-Bow where patients will be able to opt for self-diagnosis with state-of-the-art NHS technology.

East London Advertiser: Rough sketch of how new state-of-the-art health centre will look with its glass frontage in Wellington Way. Picture: LBTHRough sketch of how new state-of-the-art health centre will look with its glass frontage in Wellington Way. Picture: LBTH (Image: LBTH)

The work to expand and revamp a two-storey NHS building is to house both the Merchant Street GP practice and the Stroudley Walk health centre on the Stroudley Walk estate.

Both surgeries have now appointed a joint practice manager ready for the opening in the autumn.

The scheme being paid for Tower Hamlets Council, in partnership with the NHS, from planning levies on developments in the area.

"It's important that we use money from developments for facilities to support the East End's rapid population growth," mayor John Biggs said. "The new facility bringing two GP surgeries together will serve the public better."

It is to have latest NHS information technology with self-diagnosis and self-service arrival screens.

Eight consultation and examination rooms are planned on the ground floor, along with six treatment rooms, two phlebotomy rooms, a reception and a waiting area. Baby clinics and group therapy sessions are set for the first floor.

The planning levy being used for the Wellington Way centre comes from developers' contributions which are put aside to pay for expanding services to cope with the East End's population explosion from new housing.