Plans for two new health centres must be accelerated to help with the ongoing problems at Southend Hospital, opposition councillors have said.

The Southend Independent group say proposals for a new St Luke’s health centre and another in Shoebury will be included in their alternative budget proposals for 2018-19.

St Luke’s walk-in centre closed in March 2016. Its GP practice will be housed within the proposed new health centre.

Shoebury Health Centre GP surgery is also meant to relocate to a new centre on the Garrison site along with other GPs in the area.

As yet there is no sign of delivery dates for either proposal.

Martin Terry, councillor for Thorpe ward, said: “The Independent Group, as part of its alternative budget plan proposes that our Southend Council budget will fund the building of the long-promised Primary Care Medical Centres at St Luke’s and Shoebury.

“This plan will very much help to alleviate problems at Southend A&E assisting in diverting pressure away from Southend A&E and the delivery of Primary Care Services and Social Care, where it is needed, in the heart of our communities.”

Mr Terry added how these schemes had been long promised by the clinical commissioning group and were approved years ago .

He added: “We intend to deliver them as improved capacity in primary care and social care which is very much needed for residents in Southend.”

John Lamb, Conservative leader of Southend Council, questioned the viability of using council taxpayers’ money to fund an NHS project.

He said: “We would very much like to see the health centres built but it’s a matter of funding and we have got to find £8million.

“We would need to have a look at it but we’ve not been asked for and it’s the clinical commissioning group that is funding it. There is no way we can look at funding it twice.”

Harry Chandler, chairman of the Shoeburyness Residents’ Association, said: “At every meeting we have had residents have got more and more agitated that nothing has happened yet.

“They raise the issue at every meeting. It’s very disappointing that something we were told was already spoken for hasn’t happened.

“It is ages since we heard anything. It is something like six or seven months ago since we last heard anything about this.”

The Echo asked NHS Southend Clinical Commissioning Group for a comment but received no response.

In recognition of the local NHS and Social Care crisis and proposed £500m service cuts at Southend Hospital, the lack of capacity at Southend A & E, the abject failure of the multi-million pound indebted Community Care Group to deliver the long awaited and promised Primary Health Care Centres at St Lukes and Shoeburyness, I have proposed to Ron Woodley the following plan which will be a key policy of our opposition budget proposals ;

This new proposal follows on from our policy of saving Council run care homes at PRIORY HOUSE and DELAWARE HOUSE and the delivery of a Care Campus under the last Independent Led Administration.

The Independent Group wishes to continue improving Primary Health and Social Care Services for all the residents of Southend on Sea rather than pursuing the policy of Southend Hospital cuts currently being supported by the Conservative Administration.