A family-run community health centre in Braintree has completed the redevelopment of its new site into a clinical hub to improve access and quality of care for the town’s rapidly growing patient population.
Founded by husband and wife Baba and Dupe Akomolafe, Christchurch Health Centre has been active in the Braintree area for more than two decades. It consists of a pharmacy that offers NHS and private prescriptions for local residents. It also runs a private clinic that offers treatments such as earwax removal, travel vaccinations and cryotherapy.
The centre is also committed to healthcare innovation. In 2008, it became one of the first pharmacies to introduce dispensing robots and earlier this year it unveiled its fully automated 24-hour prescription service, which allows patients to pick up medication at any time which is easiest for them.
This service was launched at its new second site in Braintree, which it has now finished redeveloping following a seven-figure loan and hire purchasing facility from Lloyds.
Formerly a retail space, this new site has been repurposed to create two new consultation rooms and a blood pressure monitoring room, improving Christchurch Health Centre’s ability to offer a more holistic treatment service to its patients beyond pharmacy prescriptions.
Located near Mount Chambers Surgery, it will also enable the health centre to now support new patients from this NHS practice. This will help to ease pressures for the town’s wider Primary Care Network as it serves a rapidly growing population of more than 59,000 patients.[i]
Alongside its continued investment in robotics and automation, this will free up Christchurch Health Centre’s staff to focus on the quality of care it provides for patients. The organisation is committed to upskilling its health assistants so they can carry out more treatments as well as providing pharmaceutical advice.
The support from Lloyds follows the news that more than £3bn of new finance can be available to businesses across the East of England in 2026, as part of Lloyds Banking Group’s plan to make more than £35bn of new finance available to companies operating and investing across the UK in 20261.
Baba Akomolafe, Co-founder of Christchurch Health Centre, said: “We’re always looking at how we can provide the best quality of care to our patients. Our recent investment in robotics and automation means patients can access their prescriptions whenever they need them, even in the early hours or during bank holidays. It’s also freed up time for our staff to offer a more holistic service that prioritises prevention over treatment.
“But we also need more space to support this, and our new site gives us greater capacity to offer more consultation and in-house medical treatments. The list of services we try to provide for our local community is always increasing, and I’m grateful to Lloyds for their support with this latest expansion.”
James Dean, Area Director, Healthcare, in the East of England at Lloyds, added: “Christchurch Health Centre is an organisation deeply rooted in its community and committed to supporting the people in it. Its willingness to embrace and explore the potential of new technologies also means it’s at the cutting-edge of healthcare services in its area.
“This new site gives Baba and Dupe the ability to continue building on this, and I look forward to seeing how the centre is able to improve the quality of care it provides off the back of this.”
