GP surgeries in Glastonbury and Street are among those set to benefit from a major upgrade programme funded by central government.

The Department for Health and Social Care announced on Tuesday (7 May) that more than £102m will be shared across 1,000 GP practices in the UK. The funding aims to expand facilities and enable more appointments for patients each year, supporting Labour's ten-year NHS plan.

In Somerset, 16 practices have been selected for funding, including Glastonbury Surgery on Feversham Lane and Vine Surgery on Hindhayes Lane in Street. These two local surgeries are expected to receive capital investment to expand or remodel their buildings, creating additional space for consultation and treatment.

The NHS Somerset Integrated Care Board (ICB), which secured the funding, said further details about each project's timeline would be released in the coming weeks. Construction work is expected to begin within the current financial year, with some upgrades starting as early as summer.

While the funding does not cover day-to-day operational costs such as staff salaries, the improvements are designed to make surgeries more appealing to new doctors and nurses, potentially aiding recruitment and retention.

Health secretary Wes Streeting MP said this marks the biggest investment in GP buildings in five years. "These are simple fixes for our GP surgeries, but for too long they were left to ruin, allowing waiting lists to build and stopping doctors treating more patients," he said.

Also on the list of funded surgeries is Beckington Family Practice, which serves parts of Frome, though no practices within Shepton Mallet or Wells town centres were named in the initial announcement.

Each surgery will receive funding through the government's primary care utilisation and modernisation fund, which targets outdated premises and aims to modernise the primary care estate.

Dr Amanda Doyle, national director for primary care and community services, said the investment "will help to create additional space and extend the capacity of current premises as we improve access further and bring care closer to the communities where people live."

The upgrades follow a 2024 report by Lord Ara Darzi that found many GP buildings were "not fit for purpose" and presented barriers to delivering safe, high-quality care.

While NHS Somerset ICB has not disclosed how much funding each practice will receive, the improvements are expected to result in a significant increase in appointment capacity across the county.