Lowe House Primary Care Centre, St Helens, has reached financial close on an internal variation which will see the site have a dedicated Children’s and Families Community Hub. This area will incorporate a midwifery unit, an out of hospital birthing centre and new birthing pools.
The reconfiguration will also see a new ultrasound room and independent access to the hub. This variation will cost around £736k, with £50k being contributed by Cheshire & Merseyside Women’s and Children’s Services Partnership (www.improvingme.org.uk). As a building within the heart of the community in St Helens, its aim is to increase birthing location options for women within those areas and reduce the need to visit a hospital.
Internally, the work will include adjusting a fire door to become a dedicated entrance and exit for service users and their families, altering internal access doors, work on water and wastewater and sluice facilities. The team will be reworking the existing clinical treatment rooms to provide a wet and a dry birthing suite, with extra provisions for changing and showering being made available also.
There will also be work undertaken to identify a dedicated ambulance bay next to the new public entrances which will require new road markings and signage.
Partnership working
The teams at Renova and CHP have worked alongside St Helens CCG, St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust during this project.
Ann-Marie Barrow, Senior Commissioning and Transformation Manager who has been leading the project for NHS St Helens Clinical Commissioning Group said. “The Children’s and Families Community Hub at Lowe House Health Centre will be a huge asset for families in St Helens”.
“The birthing suite will allow Mums who are low risk to birth on a site in St Helens and receive all their care including scans at Lowe House, meaning that they don’t have to travel to a hospital site. Women will be able to access support for smoking cessation, perinatal mental health and infant feeding all from the same site.
Services for Children
“For children, we will be offering multiple health services from Lowe House which will make care much more coordinated for families whose children are under several services. We have already moved some clinics from Whiston Hospital, Prescott to Lowe House, including children’s blood clinics which has never been offered outside of the hospital before. This means that children can receive care closer to home; the feedback from families has been fantastic.’ added Ann-Marie Barrow, Senior Commissioning and Transformation Manager at St Helens CCG.
Dan Cook, Programme Manager for CHP, said:
“CHP’s Developments, Property and Lease teams are pleased to have supported the St Helens CCG, St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust and the Cheshire & Merseyside Women’s and Children’ Vanguard to undertake remodelling works at Lowe House Primary Care Resource Centre. Having overcome a delay incurred by the Covid pandemic, this project will create a dedicated Children’s and Families Community Hub, incorporating a freestanding midwifery-led unit.
“CHP is very excited to enable the benefits that this project will deliver to the community and the savings it will provide to the health economy. These works ensure that these community buildings are truly at the heart of the community.”
For more information about how the building will function during the building works visit the practice website.
About Lowe House Health Centre
Lowe house was built in 2010 under the NHS LIFT Programme that brings together Renova – an investor in 17 community healthcare facilities in the North West – with Community Health Partnerships, a key part of the NHS family. Renova is owned by Fulcrum, an investor in over 40 community health centres across England. Renova is based in the North West of England, delivering health centres that serve the Merseyside and Cheshire boroughs of St Helens, Knowsley, Halton & Warrington.
Flexible space in CHP buildings
Our buildings are specifically designed to be flexible to accommodate future changes, meet the needs of building users and maximise efficiencies. Also, they provide an improved experience for patients who are treated closer to home in their communities, rather than travelling to a hospital site.
This project is an example of how this can be achieved.
Find out more about our capital investment plan for 2021/22 – CHP makes great progress on an ambitious capital expenditure programme. If you would like to talk to us about our delivery capability please contact our Developments Director, Eugene Prinsloo.
18 November 2021
