A FLAGSHIP health centre, designed to bring services under one roof, is still not being fully used, six months after it opened.

The mulitmillion pound Leigh Primary Care Centre opened in April and is on course make a loss this financial year, officials have revealed.

All along, NHS South East Essex, the trust which runs the three-storey centre, in London Road, expected a deficit this year.

But it has now hired a special manager to get empty rooms at the centre in use as soon as possible.

The news comes days after trust chief executive Andrew Pike held up the Leigh centre as an example of the success of all-in-one superclinics.

In an opinion piece in Friday’s Echo, Mr Pike argued the Leigh centre’s popularity made the case for other, similar centres elsewhere in the area.

The trust is currently running a public consultation on plans to bring GPs and other services under one roof in Shoebury.

Russ Platt, director of commissioning and contracting for the trust, admitted: “While much of the primary care centre is being used by GPs, services and training, there is some under-occupancy. The lessons learned from the development should be carried forward for future proposals.”

In future, he suggested, the trust should plan new centres so they were fully used from the day they opened. Future centres will also be designed with greater flexibility, so space can be used for whatever services were needed at a particular time.

The Leigh centre is now home to Pall Mall GP practice, and services such as physiotherapy, blood taking and a midwifery team.

However, three ground floor consulting rooms remain empty, as does an area originally earmarked for the local mental health trust.

Despite the empty rooms, chairman of Leigh Town Council, Hilary Davison, said she was impressed with the centre.

She said: “I think these things just take some time and I would hope it is filled up meaningfully soon. The only issue raised by elderly residents is there is no direct bus service from the middle of Leigh.”

Admin offices and podiatry services currently in Shoebury House, Shoebury, may move temporarily to Leigh while the proposed new Shoebury superclinic is built.

The Valkyrie Surgery also wants to open a branch in Leigh, while a new dental practice and the SureStart parents’ support organisation may also take space.