Juliet Campbell Column: £250,000 allocated to develop plans for a new health centre in Eastwood
I am pleased to share that the NHS Integrated Care Board has allocated £250,000 to develop a business case for a new health centre in Eastwood, and work is underway to design a Neighbourhood Health Centre that could bring together GP services, community healthcare and other local services for Eastwood and Giltbrook.
This month, I visited the Eastwood Primary Care Centre to meet doctors and practice staff about the vital service they provide for Eastwood residents.
The centre serves over 18,000 patients and is the largest GP practice in Broxtowe.
They run some fantastic services including the Memory Café and model diabetes clinics, and would like to be able to host more community services if they had more space.
The staff at the Eastwood Primary Care Centre do phenomenal work, but the two sites they work from suffer from inadequate space, poor accessibility, insufficient parking, ageing facilities, and ongoing maintenance issues.
The lack of space restricts training opportunities, staff recruitment, multidisciplinary working, and the development of innovative services.
Investment in health services is especially important for Eastwood because the town has a significantly higher rate of complex health needs compared to the Nottinghamshire average, with substantially higher rates of cancer, heart disease, stroke, COPD, diabetes, and patients requiring palliative care.
This is why I have been lobbying the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and the local Integrated Care Board on the desperate need for more funding for health services in Eastwood.
I am so pleased to share that the ICB have allocated £250,000 to develop plans for a new health centre in Eastwood.
The business case is an important stage in ensuring that the ICB and Broxtowe Borough Council proposal is deliverable and aligns with the Government's 10 Year Plan for the NHS.
New capital funds from the Labour Government have enabled this plan to move forward, and I am pleased to hear that the business case stage should be completed around March 2027.
There is still work to do around the site's layout and funding, but it's encouraging to see real progress being made. I will continue to press for improved local healthcare facilities for Eastwood.