Ageing Shipley Health Centre is to be sold to a private company for redevelopment - and then leased back to the medics who operate there.

The 30-year-old Alexandra Road building, which is owned by North Bradford Primary Care Trust (PCT), is no longer fit to house the two GP practices and community health services, including dentistry, therapy and nursing services.

Trust bosses say its condition is deteriorating and it is too small to deliver high-quality health services - despite the best efforts of staff.

The developer will demolish the building and build a new centre which will then be leased back to the GPs.

Previous plans to redevelop the site have stalled due to financial constraints, but now NHS money has been secured to offset any losses.

Jonathan Coulter, finance director for North Bradford PCT, said: "It has always been a negative equity problem. We have a building that is not valued as much as it is on our books. In the past this has stopped development."

The current value of the site is £896,000 but, when sold to the developer who will have to knock down the building and start again from scratch, it will be worth about £450,000.

This will give the PCT a loss of £446,000. But now £330,000 has been secured from the NHS to minimise this loss. The PCT will also no longer be responsible for capital charges on the building, which are currently £53,000.

The PCT has identified a preferred bidder, but a contract has not yet been signed.

A project team has been formed, made up of staff representing the GP practices of Dr Kevin Hickey and Dr Maggie Eisner, PCT staff, the developer and estates experts for the PCT.

Detailed plans are being drawn up and it is hoped they will be ready by autumn, with construction of a new building beginning in early 2005 and completed by 2006.

Mr Coulter said work still had to be done to decide how services would be delivered during redevelopment.

"Top of our list is making sure there is no lack of services," he said. "The GPs are thinking about how it will work, if they will have to move out or if work can be carried out around them.

"There are various options we are working on with the

developer."

The issue was discussed at a board meeting of the PCT held at New Mill, Saltaire, yesterday.