Since the launch of the 10 Year Health Plan, we are seeing rapid progress on the implementation of Neighbourhood Health Services. We will soon know the first cohort of 42 neighbourhood health pioneers who will drive delivery of neighbourhood health services in their places.
We will also hear more about neighbourhood health centres and how the Government will implement one in every community across England over the next ten years. As referenced in the 10 Year Health Plan, making best use of existing estate, such as the modern and well-maintained LIFT buildings, will be crucial to deliver neighbourhood health centres in the short to medium term. This is where CHP is already supporting through restacking, adapting and repurposing space across the LIFT estate.
There are many examples of neighbourhood health centres already in operation across the LIFT estate. We will be sharing these so that the NHS can take inspiration from existing examples of neighbourhood health centres already in action.
A real example
Washwood Heath Health and Wellbeing Centre in East Birmingham is one such working example. East Birmingham is a deprived area where health needs are high. It benefits from capital investment in community-based infrastructure from the NHS LIFT Programme. This means there is a modern health centre where hospital doctors, GPs, nurses, occupational therapists, council social care teams, mental health professionals, social prescribing practitioners and charity staff can work under one roof providing a range of integrated health and care services.
The three-storey building houses an urgent treatment centre, offering some of the services usually provided by hospitals, as well as diagnostic services (for MRI scans, X rays and ultrasounds), mental health and wider social support.
The Health and Social Care Secretary, Wes Streeting was quoted as saying that Washwood [Heath Health and Wellbeing Centre] was a “pioneering service” and that the model could “be the future of the NHS”.
Partnership working essential
To realise the neighbourhood health service ambition partnership working with ICBs and NHS providers is critical, enabled by the NHS estate.
At Washwood Heath the local care system has prioritised the 10% of their population with the highest need, who account for 70-80% of health service use. Community health provider, Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Trust works in partnership across the care system via its neighbourhood health teams based at Washwood Heath Health and Wellbeing Centre to support these patients stay well and at home. The team plans intense support for the most vulnerable patients creating packages of care from the NHS and council, as well as accessing what charities can offer too. Many of these services can be accessed at the Centre.
The Trust’s Chief Executive Richard Kirby, one of the key partners at Washwood Heath and now the NHS National Adviser on Neighbourhood Health, recognises the need for close collaboration with the patient at its heart. He said: “The NHS cannot meet their needs on its own – it requires partnership working.”
Utilising existing buildings
To support the neighbourhood model and in addition to the range of existing primary and community services at Washwood Heath Health and Wellbeing Centre, Community Health Partnerships worked with NHS partners to adapt space to support a state-of-the-art Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) securing £2.15 million of capital investment from NHS England’s national fund.
Additionally, CHP invested £1.2 million of our own capital to create a dedicated space for a vital mental health support service for under 25s. Forward Thinking Birmingham now benefits from a modern, fit-for-purpose space while patients benefit from increased access to care and no longer need to travel into Birmingham’s City centre. Cafe space was also repurposed to create four new treatment rooms for a relocated Urgent Care service, optimising underused space.
These projects took 12 to 18 months to deliver. Further work to repurpose space has resulted in the addition of a Same Day Emergency Care provision for patients with respiratory illness, which required minor works to reconfigure space and improve utilisation.
There is also a Locality Coordination Centre acting as a command and control point, coordinating the work of Integrated Neighbourhood Teams, with admissions avoidance teams, virtual ward services and single point of access (SPA) teams.
More care closer to home
In the first 12 months of Washwood Heath operating as a neighbourhood health hub 41,500 additional appointments were delivered in the community. While GP visits to the local patients supported by the Centre fell by 31%, A&E attendances have reduced by 20% and admissions to hospital decreased by 21%.
An additional 2,000 patients to be checked, scanned and tested per month following the investment in a Community Diagnostic Centre.
Evaluation of the ‘East Birmingham Hub’ from December 2023 to December 2024
The evaluation showed there were:
- 47% reduction in the number of GP appointments
- 5% reduction in emergency department attendances
- 22% reduction in inpatient spells
- 1.8 day reduction in length of stay where there has been an acute inpatient spell
- 41% reduction in number of outpatient appointments
- 49% reduction in the number of physical health community services contacts and appointments
- 148% increase in the number of mental health services contacts and appointments
- Up to March 2025, the Echocardiology Department has seen 4000 patients
- 16,500 additional MRI scans
- 21,000 ultrasound tests
(Source: NHS England)
The results speak for themselves and is replicable elsewhere. Across the LIFT estate there are more opportunities to deliver what has been achieved at Washwood Heath.
Get in touch with your CHP regional team to find out what is possible in your area.
Community Health Partnerships are the property and asset managers for Washwood Heath Health and Wellbeing Centre. Read our case study Washwood Heath Health and Wellbeing Centre to find out more.
Transforming Neighbourhood Health - July 2025 (PDF)
Download 'Transforming Neighbourhood' Health to read more. To find out more about opportunities across the LIFT estate to support the delivery of neighbourhood health services and to access CHP capital, get in touch with your regional team.
Read more Insights from CHP
Read more about our insights on core asset optimisation, place-based care and how CHP supports sustainable NHS infrastructure to enable care for patients closer to home in their local neighbourhoods.
