£500K made available to progress business case for a new Health Centre for Shaw and Crompton.

Local Shaw and Crompton Liberal Democrat Councillors Howard Sykes and Diane Williamson have welcomed the news £500,000 has been released to the NHS Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to develop the final business case for a new health centre for Shaw and Crompton.

“We were really pleased to hear the fantastic news that £500,000 has been made available to carry out a feasibility study and business case for a new centre,” stated Councillor Sykes.  “Locally we are campaigning for the site vacated by the demolition of Crompton Pool and its car park to be used for a new Health Centre.”

“We have a new substation lying empty right near the former baths site that was built specially to power a new health centre so the CCG needs to build a case, and make a bid and get the centre built,” he added.

“Staff at Crompton Health Centre do an absolutely fantastic job in a building that is far from state of the art,” said Councillor Williamson.  “For too long now Shaw and Crompton residents have been forced to use a centre that is well past its prime to say the least.”

“Residents in Shaw and Crompton deserve excellent health facilities in their home town.  We need more services here, rather than always being expected to travel to Royton or further afield.  If you have a car, then it is relatively easy to get to Royton Health Centre, but you can’t park.  If you use public transport, then it can prove a hassle and timings are not great,” stated Councillor Sykes.

“A new facility for Shaw and Crompton would provide a range of quality primary care services for the locality, which will be more accessible to the frail and elderly and those with young children,” said Councillor Williamson.  “These services will also help ease pressure on other services within the NHS by reducing A & E attendances and hospital admissions, and a new centre could also help develop clinical excellence by supporting on-site training for our GPs and nursing staff.”

Backed by a local Liberal Democrat campaign team, Councillors Sykes and Williamson stand ready to support an early bid for funding, but they have a worry.

Cllr Sykes explained: “Greater Manchester has not made a single successful bid in recent years to fund the building of a new NHS facility.  It’s about time they did so.  We want them to take this opportunity to build now on this ideal site.  We stand ready to support the CCG and in doing so and we are asking local residents to sign an on-line petition to demonstrate the strength of feeling in our town and that the whole community is behind such a bid and that we all want to see a state of the art health facility for Shaw and Crompton in the very near future.”

The on-line petition can be found at: http://howardsykes.mycouncillor.org.uk/petition-a-new-health-centre-for-shaw-and-crompton/