Customer: Garlinge Surgery

Location: Thanet, Kent

Requirement: When Garlinge Surgery merged with Mill Lane Surgery in Margate, all of the Mill Lane doctors, staff and equipment were relocated to the Garlinge site. Temporary accommodation had to be found quickly to house the additional staff and resources, until a new larger practice building could be constructed. While the search for a suitable site for the new surgery got underway, East Kent Coastal NHS Teaching Primary Care Trust set about finding high-quality interim accommodation for the GPs and their patients.

Solution: Portakabin's large, robust Titan buildings were chosen as the ideal solution. The first building hired by the Trust was used as a GP's surgery and nurse's consulting room. Soon afterwards, a smaller storage unit was needed to house all the filing cabinets and paper work brought over from Mill Lane Surgery. Finally, a second Titan building was hired to house another GP's surgery, and a waiting room. The three buildings are now linked by a platform and walkway, and provide high-quality, integrated facilities for staff and patients.

"One of the main reasons for choosing Portakabin was its local Hire Centre, which gives us a local point of contact to sort out any maintenance and other issues. The buildings on site look very good, and the service we have received from the Hire Centre has been excellent. The Ashford team has responded quickly and efficiently to all our requirements."

John Miller, Architect, East Kent NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust

"Staff and patients alike are very happy with the new buildings. We were concerned that they might be cold in winter, but were delighted to find they were superbly insulated and kept their heat very well. Everyone has been pleasantly surprised by the quality of the accommodation, which provides the ideal solution to our needs until we move into our new building."

Wendy Blake, Practice Manager at Garlinge Surgery