Meir Primary Care Centre Opens In Stoke-On-Trent

A new £11m state-of-the-art health centre has opened in Stoke-on-Trent, bringing together six local GP practices and providing an enhanced range of services to the local community.

Commissioned by NHS Stoke-on-Trent and developed though the Prima 200 LIFT partnership with private sector partner Prime plc, Meir Primary Care Centre brings together a whole range of health services under one roof, including district nursing, health visiting, school nursing, specialist nursing, contraception and sexual health services, paediatric and adult physiotherapy, a dental access centre, and an on-site community pharmacy.

John Taylor, Chair of Prima 200, said: “By working closely with the local community, the Primary Care Trust and Prime we have together been able to create a health centre fit for the 21st century that can also support an expansion in services. The scheme in Meir demonstrates the importance of designing buildings and infrastructure around the service needs of a community, and ensuring those services are easily accessible.”

The official opening was attended by the Lord Mayor of Stoke-on-Trent who commemorated the launch with the unveiling of the King’s Arm’s coat-of-arms to commemorate the heritage of the site as the former King’s Arms’ Pub.

Rob Flello, Stoke-on-Trent South MP, also attended and added: “I’ve watched closely as the building work has progressed over the last 12 months and now it’s completed it looks fantastic. It is going to be a great health facility for the Meir community and credit should be given to NHS Stoke on Trent and its partners in providing a centre which will make a huge contribution to healthcare provision in the area.”

Designed by healthcare specialists One Creative Environments Ltd, the building includes the preserved King’s Arms coat-of-arms and a colourful bowling green mural in the ground floor waiting area. As well as contributing significantly to the regeneration of the community landscape, the contemporary facility is BREEAM Excellent rated and incorporates a range of green features such as shading louvers to reduce glare and overheating from the sun, and renewable technology including photovoltaic solar panels and air source derived environmental comfort to make the building more sustainable.

Graham Urwin, Chief Executive of the Staffordshire Cluster of PCTs, commented: “We are very proud of the new centre in Meir and we are very much looking forward to it opening next Monday. The centre will help us make sure the healthcare needs of local residents are better met by providing so many services under one roof.”

Cobridge Health Centre Opens Its Doors

A new £14m health centre has opened in Stoke-on-Trent to provide an enhanced range of services to a patient population in excess of 100,000.

Commissioned by NHS Stoke on Trent and developed through the Prima 200 LIFT partnership with private sector partner Prime plc, the three-storey Cobridge Health Centre incorporates two buildings - a state-of-the-art community health centre and an integrated sexual health unit to provide a range of specialist services for people across Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire.

The new facility brings together two local GP practices – Dr Pathak and the Aspley House Surgery from Waterloo Road in Burslem. The community health centre building will also be home to a wide range of health services, including:

•    District nursing, health visiting and school nursing teams
•    Adult physiotherapy, podiatry, occupational therapy and speech therapy services
•    On-site pharmacy
•    A chest clinic and other outpatient services
•    Specialist out-patients clinics and X-ray services

The integrated sexual health unit will provide genitourinary medicine, contraceptive services, Chlamydia screening and HIV counselling. Opening next year a Sexual Assault Referral Centre serving the whole of Staffordshire, including Stoke-on-Trent, will also operate from the integrated sexual health unit.

Chief Executive of the Staffordshire Cluster of PCTs Graham Urwin said: "It’s fantastic to see all the hard work that’s been put in coming to fruition after so much planning. As well as the two GP practices being based there, a whole range of services will also operate from the centre which means people will no longer have to travel to the University Hospital of North Staffordshire to access them. We expect around a hundred thousand people to use the centre every year.”

Resident Bernard Wragg, who helped campaign to get the centre built in Cobridge andcut the first sod when work began last summer, is also Chairman of Dr Pathak’s Patient Group and of the Local Residents’ Association. He said: “I am over the moon that the centre is open. It will be a fantastic facility and I really hope that this will help to kick-start the regeneration of the area.”

Stoke on Trent North MP Joan Walley said: “The residents of Cobridge have worked hard and campaigned tirelessly to get this facility and I am delighted to see all this hard work come to fruition. I want to say congratulations to the PCT for making this happen. We know that if we are going to make a difference to health inequalities, health services need to be at the centre of the community so the centre’s opening will really mark the start of something to celebrate.”

City Councillor Mohammed Pervez, leader of Stoke on Trent City Council and Ward Member for Burslem South, said: “I, along with other community members, have fought long and hard to get this facility in the heart of the community which will uplift the area immensely.  Burslem South has several issues relating to health and having a centre like this will truly please the people of this ward.”

An official opening ceremony for the centre is currently being planned.