White City Collaborative Care Centre gets the green light

Tuesday February 28, 2012

Local NHS and Council chiefs are celebrating after plans for a brand new health and care centre in White City were given the go-ahead. The £15 million state of the art facility will be able to provide a wide range of health and social care services, and have GP capacity to register 10,000 patients initially, growing to 25,000 patients if needed.

Dr Tim Spicer, Chair of Hammersmith & Fulham Clinical Commissioning Group, said: “This is exciting news as the new health centre is central to our plans to develop an integrated health and social care service for the residents of White City. We will be developing a full GP service with better larger treatment rooms and there is also space for other services such dentistry, minor surgery and podietry amongst others.

“It will also give us the space we need to develop an integrated centre for disabled children with radically improved access, co-ordination of services, assessments and treatment, and have a space which parents and their families’ will feel welcoming.”

Sarah Whiting, Chief Executive of Inner North West London PCTs, said “We believe that we have developed a building that will hold services that will bring real benefits to the residents of White City. This facility will bring much needed services to the community and is a credit to all of the local people and community groups that have worked with us to develop the vision for the centre and turn it into a reality.

Plans for the White City Collaborative Care Centre, in Bloemfontein Road, were first drawn up in 2007 and planning permission applied for in 2008.  NHS London and the Department of Health have now approved the plans and this means construction work will commence by the summer 2012, with the centre opening in January 2014.

Cllr Joe Carlebach, cabinet member community care, added: "I am delighted that the scheme now has NHS and Government approval and that local people will reap the huge benefits these new health facilities will offer. Hammersmith & Fulham Council and the Primary Care Trust have together worked incredibly hard to get these plans approved as we realise how important they are for the people of White City.  White City has some of the worst health inequalities in Britain and needs the benefits that a new health centre, affordable homes and other community benefits will bring.”

Other services to be provided by the new centre include community nursing and health visiting, social work services, services for children with disabilities, speech therapy, mental health services, and physiotherapy. 170 flats will also be built together with a mini-supermarket, pharmacy, and a £1m investment in Wormholt Park.

The centre is particularly needed because people who live in the north of the borough live on average eight years less than those in the south. A recent report by the Department of Health on the state of health of residents in White City and Shepherds Bush reveals that nearly a quarter of all year 6 school children are obese, stroke deaths are higher than normal and drug misuse is worse than in many other London boroughs.