New mental health provision and expanded GP surgery space created by £2.3m investment in Gracefield Gardens Health Centre in Streatham.
Health services in south London have received a significant boost with the completion of a £2.3m project to deliver new and improved facilities at Gracefield
Gardens Health Centre in Streatham.
The four-storey health centre was built in 2007 to offer local residents a range of integrated health and social care services in one state-of-the-art building. Gracefield Gardens has become a vital part of the local community over the past 14 years but, with a growing local population and changes in their health and social care needs, the centre was earmarked for £2.3m of further investment to redesign and improve the space and services available.
Improvement works at Gracefield Gardens began in January and were completed over the summer, with a range of new services and facilities now available to Lambeth residents including:
– A new Living Well Network offering residents a single access point for mental health services
The ground floor area of Gracefield Gardens has been redeveloped to create a range of new mental health services, counselling and treatment rooms. The new space brings together 4 different mental health organisations led by mental health specialists NHS SLAM (South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust) – many of these organisations had been working out of temporary facilities in different locations so bringing them together into one space ensures that that an easily navigable system is in place for local residents and NHS staff, reducing duplication and fragmentation of mental health services across the local area.
– Expanded GP surgeries and additional services to better-serve the growing local population
The two existing GP surgeries at Gracefield Gardens have seen their space in the building redesigned to create more space, while the first floor of the building has also been remodelled, providing increased capacity for services delivered by Guys and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust. The expanded space and additional clinical services will play a key role in supporting the growing demand from residents.
– Better integration of health and social care and improved wayfinding throughout the building
A clear benefit of the new and improved services within Gracefield Gardens is the better-integration of health and social care, with GPs able to directly refer patients to other key services within the same building. Signage and wayfinding has also been improved throughout the building, improving the flow of patients and local residents and helping them quickly access the services they need.
Gracefield Gardens was delivered under the NHS Local Improvement Finance Trust (NHS LIFT Programme), a public-private-partnership led by Community Health Partnerships (a key part of the NHS family), investment partner Fulcrum, together with NHS South East London Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). The key partners carefully planned and oversaw the Gracefield Gardens improvement works so that existing health and social services in the building could continue to operate while construction work took place.
Alison Butcher, Programme Manager at CHP said: “This is a significant investment to respond to the changing needs of the local community that Gracefield Gardens serves. Delivery of this in partnership with CHP’s local LIFTCo partner, the CCG and Tenants has shown what is possible when seeking to breathe new life into our existing estate. Optimising the use of our buildings is at the heart of what we do and to see this project delivered in such a professional way by Fulcrum and their assembled supply chain has been a pleasure.”
Fulcrum CEO Sarah Beaumont-Smith said: “The new and improved facilities at Gracefield Gardens offer a huge boost to local residents at a time when community health and mental health provision have never been more important. This investment shows the clear benefits of the NHS LIFT Programme, with a range of different partners working together to deliver huge improvements, and with flexible and modern LIFT buildings able to evolve and adapt to the changing needs of the NHS and local residents.”
Anna Penn-Carruthers from the Living Well Centre at Gracefield Gardens said: “We are very excited to have Gracefield Gardens as our new home and continue to support people with their mental health in the community. Bringing a range of health services all under one roof is a great step forward for the community and moving into Gracefield Gardens means that The Living Well Centre can work alongside services to support people to recover and stay well. The new space means we can offer more interventions to our service users and have a more linked up approach with the other health services at Gracefield Gardens. The team are looking forward to developing relationships with the other services at the centre and providing a much more integrated offer to people in the community.”
The huge improvement works delivered at Gracefield Gardens are part of a wider investment programme across a number of health centres in south London. Over the next 2-3 years, the Akerman Health Centre in Camberwell, Baldry Gardens Health Centre in Streatham, and Waldron Health Centre in New Cross will all benefit from significant investment and improvements similar to those delivered at Gracefield Gardens.
Sustainable facilities in CHP buildings
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Read: CHP Developments News
8 October 2021
