STAFF and patients have come together to mark a health centre’s first anniversary.

Beckenham Beacon, in Croydon Road, is a £23m development offering a seven-day walk-in general practice and an urgent care centre, as well as a range of services including treatment for people with diabetes and breathing difficulties.

It also provides physiotherapy, podiatry, speech and language therapy, blood testing, ultrasound and X-ray imaging.

The Department of Health’s National Clinical Director of Primary Care, Professor David Colin-Thomé, attended the birthday celebrations and heaped praise on the centre.

He said: “This is as good as I’ve seen anywhere in the country.”