FCMS began in 1994 as a co-operative of local GPs providing out-of-hours home visits across Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre. Originally known as Fylde Coast Medical Services, it brought doctors together to provide care when patients’ usual surgeries were closed. From an operational base at Devonshire Road Hospital, the organisation developed into a healthcare provider whose work now extends well beyond the Fylde coast, while retaining a substantial presence in Blackpool. Its early development reflected changes in the way local primary care was organised. In 1997, FCMS introduced a surgery-based service using the dermatology outpatient facilities at Devonshire Road. Work on computerised patient records followed in 1998, and in 1999 the organisation moved to the Out of Hours Primary Care Centre at 88 Whitegate Drive. By 2000, it was developing a broader clinical team that included nurses, dentists, paramedics, mental health nurses and social workers alongside GPs. These changes expanded the range of professional support available through a service that had begun with doctors visiting patients at home.
FCMS operates as a not-for-profit social enterprise delivering NHS services. Its work encompasses urgent, community and primary care, with a wider purpose of improving access to healthcare and addressing health inequalities. Its Blackpool base is at Newfield House on Vicarage Lane, maintaining a connection with the town where the organisation originated. For many Blackpool residents, its most familiar role is in urgent treatment. FCMS provides the Urgent Treatment Centre on Whitegate Drive, formerly known as the Walk-in Centre, and the Urgent Treatment Centre alongside the Emergency Department at Blackpool Victoria Hospital. It also supplies the hospital’s frontline reception service, helping patients use the digital triage system so that they can be directed towards the appropriate care. These services support local residents as well as people staying in or visiting the Fylde coast.
The organisation also continues the out-of-hours work on which it was founded, providing cover when local GP practices are closed. Additional evening and weekend appointments form another part of its Fylde coast provision, covering services such as routine consultations, blood tests and support for people with long-term conditions. Its role therefore reaches beyond urgent treatment into the everyday arrangements through which residents obtain medical care. A further development came in January 2021, when FCMS began providing a Homeless Health service across the Fylde coast. The service was designed around people who could face practical and personal barriers to obtaining healthcare. Clinics take place in community and health centres, while a mobile clinic allows outreach appointments to be brought closer to those needing support. The team works with housing providers, support workers and specialist services, connecting medical treatment with the wider circumstances affecting a person’s health. At Blackpool Victoria Hospital, its Homeless Link Workers help patients who are homeless, or at risk of homelessness, prepare for a safe discharge.
FCMS’s community involvement also extends beyond clinical services. It has supported The Boathouse Youth, with staff given opportunities to help at the charity’s annual summer camp from 2021. In 2023, it also provided funding towards the STRIVE community café at Flakefleet Primary School in Fleetwood. These projects form part of its commitment to reinvesting in the communities it serves. From its beginnings at Devonshire Road Hospital to its present work in treatment centres, hospital services and community settings, FCMS has become a continuing part of Blackpool’s healthcare story.
