NHS bosses are contributing to Norfolk's GP and dentist shortages because they are not sharing data with councils deciding where new homes should be built, a council leader has claimed.
John Fuller, from South Norfolk Council, has launched an outspoken attack on the region's health bosses blaming them for not providing information on how extra housing would affect patient numbers.
The lack of communication means that councils are not able to ensure new developments are built near sufficient facilities, such as GPs, dentists, pharmacies and mental health services.
The claim comes amid mounting concern over the provision of dental care in the region, with many so-called 'dental deserts' where people have no access to NHS dentists.
It also follows days after the release of data showing the best- and worst-rated GP surgeries in Norfolk and Waveney. Many of those with the lowest satisfaction rating - for instance, Thorpewood Medical Practice, in Thorpe St Andrew - are in areas which have seen significant new housing.
Conservative Mr Fuller, Norfolk's longest-serving council leader, said the problem lay with the protocol arrangement between councils, the NHS and public health departments which is used when planning applications are being considered and to help councils make strategic decisions on where future housing should be built.
It is specifically designed to ensure new homes will have good access to health services, but Mr Fuller claims it is flawed.
While it has guidelines on the design of buildings, including about the need for green space, good lighting and travel plans, Mr Fuller said it did not tackle the issue of whether health services will be in place to cater for growing populations.
"When developers make large-scale proposals, an agreement between local planning authorities and the NHS that doesn't include measuring the extra impact on local health services is no good to anyone," he said.
"The existing arrangement covers a number of worthy factors like space standards and provision of pavements. But it misses the point entirely.
"Local councils now have more responsibility for delivering health and we need a more evidence-based relationship with the NHS to ensure that we can better understand the impact of new housing on GPs, dentistry, mental health and pharmacies and hold them to account for addressing it.
"A strengthened relationship between planners and NHS Estates will enable residents and councils to be better informed and focus debate on real numbers, which don't always match perceptions."
Mr Fuller is chairman of the Norfolk Duty to Cooperate Member Group - through which councils and other public bodies discuss the county's strategic issues - and recently used that forum to demand the NHS shares more raw data on patient loads with planners.
The protocol is meant to be used when consultation is needed on the potential health considerations associated with developments of 50 homes or more.
It is also supposed to kick in on developments of fewer than 50 homes, but where those are deemed to "potentially impact on health services significantly".
Developments such as care homes, housing for the elderly or student accommodation and those which involve "significant" loss of public open space are also meant to trigger the protocol.
A spokesman for NHS England said it was now the responsibility of the recently-formed Integrated Care Board (ICB) - made up of representatives from the region's three hospital trusts, the mental health trust, community care trusts and Norfolk and Suffolk county councils - to co-ordinate responses to planning consultations.
He said the ICB has a dedicated role in place to support this function.
He said national data and formula were shared with planning authorities and were included in public updates to the ICB's primary care commissioning committee.
He added the ICB is always open and transparent about these calculations.
Tens of thousands of new homes are due to be built across Norfolk over the next 15 years.
THOUSANDS OF HOMES IN PIPELINE
Councils in Norwich, South Norfolk and Broadland are waiting to see if government inspectors will sign off the Greater Norwich Local Plan - its blueprint for where 50,000 of those homes will be built.
Other councils, including Breckland and Great Yarmouth are drawing up new local plans for housing in their districts.
READ MORE: Norfolk railway town campaigners keep up fight over homes
In Breckland, that has sparked controversy, after a speculative proposal for a 5,000-home 'railway village' was put forward as part of that process.
Norfolk’s first new town in centuries would see homes built on farming land between the villages of North Elmham, Billingford and Bintree, north of Dereham - but has been met with vociferous objection.
ANALYSIS
Access to health services has become a real issue in Norfolk in recent years.
Struggles to get timely appointments at local GP surgeries, difficulties in finding NHS dentists and the disappearance of pharmacies are all symptoms of the problem.
The 'dental deserts' have become such a worry that MPs such as Clive Lewis and Peter Aldous have raised the matter in Parliament.
This week's annual GP survey revealed the levels of dissatisfaction with doctor's surgeries in the county, with 11pc of patients scoring their GP as poor or fairly poor.
The state of the region's mental health services has been well-documented, while concerns have been raised over the closure of pharmacies.
And, against that backdrop, Norfolk's population continues to grow - and age.
Little wonder, then, that John Fuller, leader of South Norfolk Council, should express such frustration at what he perceives as a lack of sharing of information between the NHS and local councils.
Mr Fuller says a protocol around health in planning is sorely lacking - because NHS bosses are not sharing the data councils need when it comes to agreeing major housing schemes.
He argues that, without information about patient load, it is becoming impossible for councils - which make decisions on where new housing should be built - to get the strategies right.
Mr Fuller is calling for more data to be shared with councils so they can better plan where homes should go - and what pressure that will heap on already stretched services.
It's an issue which Mr Fuller is familiar with, given fast-growing Hethersett is in his South Norfolk Council patch.
The village has grown in recent years, but doctors at the surgery had warned it was close to breaking point.
A new health centre is planned, but it will take years before it opens.
If Mr Fuller is correct - that the data which councils need is not being made available by the NHS - then that clearly needs to change.
It is essential that, when strategies over housing are developed, the needs of the current and future populations are properly thought through.
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