A traditional ground-breaking ceremony has taken place to mark the first official day of construction of a new health centre in Dulwich.
The Mayor of Southwark, Councillor Catherine Rose, and Dulwich and West Norwood MP, Helen Hayes, joined Malcolm Hines, director of finance for NHS Bexley, Bromley and Southwark CCGs, and Malcolm Twite, chief commercial officer at Community Health Partnerships in turning the first turf at the site of the old Dulwich Hospital.
Hines said: “We are delighted that work is underway on this exciting new health centre, which will bring significant benefits for patients and residents of Southwark.
“The new facility will play an essential part in the transformation of primary and community health and wellbeing services across south Southwark and will serve as a fit-for-purpose health hub for the local community.”
The design, build, funding and operation of the new centre will be net through the NHS Local Improvement Finance Trust (LIFT) programme, a public private partnership (PPP) led by Community Health Partnerships (CHP) in collaboration with Southwark Clinical Commissioning Group and the local LIFT partner, South London Health Partnership.
Twite commented: “This is an exciting phase in our partnership as building work begins in earnest on a new healthcare facility for patients and residents of Dulwich.
“Working with our local delivery partner, our LIFT public private partnerships continues to be a valuable delivery and funding mechanism for infrastructure in the health sector.”
Stephen Spall from the South London Health Partnership added: “It is the culmination of many years of work with partners to deliver a facility that meets the needs of the residents of Dulwich, both now and in the future.
“SLHP will manage the construction of the facility and, once operational, maintain it to the highest levels to give the residents of Dulwich a health centre they can be proud off for many years to come.”
The £16.8m development will provide modern healthcare facilities integrating a range of primary care services, children's services, some diagnostics, a physiotherapy unit, a renal dialysis unit, community mental health services, and services for patients with long-term conditions.
