Work on £15m health centre in Saltley set to start
Dec 21 2009 by Edward Chadwick, Birmingham Mail
A STATE-of-the-art health “supercentre” has moved a step closer after a deal was signed with developers.
Work is expected to begin on the £15 million Washwood Heath Health and Wellbeing Centre in the new year and it had been scheduled to open in 2011.
Health chiefs say it will mean better access to GPs for 15,000 people, including 6,000 new patients from north and east Birmingham.
The modern three-storey building will also house physiotherapy and pain management specialists, orthopaedic triage and a walk-in unit to treat casualties with less serious emergency injuries seven-days-a-week.
It is hoped that the unit could help to slash hospital waiting queues at Heartlands Hospital by dealing with minor cuts, grazes and burns.
Spread over 4,000 square metres, the centre, in Clodeshill Road, Saltley, will also be home to a cafe and welfare centre which will offer information to patients and local residents on immigration, employment and housing.
Jonathan Tringham, director of resources for NHS Birmingham East and North, said: “I am delighted that we will soon be able to start construction on this excellent new facility, which will give the communities in and around Washwood Heath greatly-expanded GP, wider health and wellbeing services.”
NHS bosses unveiled their plans earlier this year after consulting with health care providers and the local community on the plans.
The centre will also have benefits for the environment by converting contaminated land to community use and using a geothermal heating system to keep the building warm during the winter.
The scheme is being funded in part by the Government’s £250 million Equitable Access to Primary Medical Care programme, which aims to boost the provision of GPs in “under doctored” areas.
Richard Cutler, of Worcester-based developer Prime plc, said: “A great deal of effort and collaboration has gone into this project behind the scenes, to bring together so many new health and wellbeing service innovations. I think everyone is very proud of what has been achieved to date and we look forward to starting on site in the New Year.”
A temporary GP practice and urgent care centre which opened earlier this month further along Clodeshill Road will eventually move to the centre. The centre’s GPs will be offering emergency appointments on Boxing Day, December 28 and January 2.
