Stuart, along with local MP, Philip Dunne, visited Highley to see commencement of works to relocate the Highley Health & Wellbeing Centre at the Severn Centre.
Plans to move Highley Medical Centre and additional health and care services into the Severn Centre received the green light last year from NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin and the Halo Leisure Trust Board (the charity that runs the Severn Centre).
Funding for the project has been received from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), Halo Leisure, and NHS England, with direction for the project provided by an equal partnership approach.
Mr Dunne visited alongside Stuart Anderson, Conservative parliamentary candidate for South Shropshire. The project has been championed by Philip Dunne, MP for South Shropshire, and Cecilia Motley, Portfolio Holder for Health and Wellbeing at Shropshire Council.
The brand-new Highley Health and Wellbeing Centre will not only maintain and expand essential General Practice (GP) services in the area but will also include a broader range of health and care services provided by the local Primary Care Network (PCN), complementing the activities on offer at the Severn Centre.
The building programme kicked off this week and is due to complete the building works by Easter, to enable the IT and clinical fit out for an opening anticipated in early summer. This will double the number of consulting rooms to six, which will enable an increased presence from clinicians from the Bridgnorth Medical Practice who took over the service last year, and are currently operating from a demountable in the Severn Centre car park.
Mr Dunne said: “I was pleased to visit the Severn Centre with Stuart Anderson today, where this week work started on transforming the Centre to incorporate Highley Medical Practice, which has been operating from a portacabin since the summer.
This is a very exciting project, which brings to conclusion work that I and campaigners have been involved in for several years to get Highley at the top of the priority list, to move and expand the Medical Practice into premises fit for delivery of primary healthcare services, to meet the needs of local patients.
This has been a fantastic cooperative effort by the NHS ICB and particularly the South East Shropshire Primary Care Network, led by Dr Jess Harvey, working alongside Shropshire Council’s public Health Team, led by Penny Bason.
This move will be excellent news for local patients in Highley, and I look forward to seeing it up and running before long.”
Stuart Anderson, Philip Dunne’s successor as candidate for South Shropshire constituency, said:
“I was delighted to meet those involved in making Highley’s premises for its GP services fit for the 21st Century. I was pleased to be shown around the Severn Centre by Jamie Bryant, who manages the centre for Halo Leisure, and has exciting plans to refurbish the library provision to help make the whole building, including the gym and foodbank, work in a more holistic way with the existing sports facilities.”
