£11m health centre tonic for Werneth

BRAND new: Werneth Primary Care Centre, due to open over the winter

THE new £11million Werneth Primary Care Centre will open this winter, boosting health services for patients with some of the poorest health in the borough.

Around 20,000 will use the new four-storey health centre, on Featherstall Road South.

It is the last major health development to be led by NHS Oldham before it is disbanded in 2013.

The ground floor of the state-of-the-art building will provide a new home for GP practices moving in from the Werneth area.

Community services are based on the next level. They include district nurses, podiatry, a leg ulcer clinic and a new home for the Woodfield Centre’s services for children with complex needs.

The rest of the building will be taken up by administrative staff and facilities for workers. A Lloyds pharmacy will operate from the site.

No fixed date has yet been given for the opening, but health centre bosses say it will be at some point over the winter. Patients will be kept informed.

The eco-friendly development uses a waste product bio-fuel for heat and power, cutting carbon emissions by 90 per cent, extra thick thermal insulation, recycled rainwater to flush toilets and has an under-floor heating system powered by pumps which absorb heat from the outside air.

Once finished, it will have taken an estimated 60,000 hours to build.

Shauna Dixon, chief executive of NHS Oldham, said: “Over the last six years we have delivered major improvements to primary care facilities as part of the LIFT development programme with our private and public-sector partners.

“We are sure that the centre and our work refurbishing, renewing and building health centres, GP practices and community settings will stand the GPs of Oldham in good stead. Through this investment we believe we are helping to leave a lasting legacy to improve health.”

Community 1st Oldham has led all health developments on behalf of NHS Oldham and will continue to work on various projects including the new Fitton Hill Neighbourhood Centre, currently under construction.

Neil Charlesworth, general manager of Community 1st Oldham, said: “We are so proud of what our partnership with NHS Oldham has achieved and the impact it has made to transform so many local communities.

“The new primary care centre is a fantastic facility for the GPs, local health teams and communities in Werneth and we look forward to the centre opening.”