Washwood Heath Health and Wellbeing Centre, Birmingham, is a prime example of how working closely with system partners can deliver excellent productivity within existing CHP buildings.
Background
Washwood Heath Health and Wellbeing Centre is a large healthcare building managed by CHP alongside BaS LIFTCo and Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board (ICB). It is in one of the most deprived areas of Birmingham. The city has the highest share of residents living in the most deprived areas with 43% of people living in areas that are ranked in the 10% most deprived areas nationally (source: Birmingham City Council).
The site now contains a range of diagnostic services as well as the x-ray facilities, including a new urgent treatment centre and additional clinical space providing ultrasound, phlebotomy, echo cardiogram, lung function and ECG diagnostic services in addition to the existing mobile MRI scanner situated on the car park.
The Approach
As a large city, Birmingham needed more health care provision within the community to stop the need for patients to travel to the city centre. Working alongside University Hospitals Birmingham, BaS LIFT, Prime, Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board (ICB) and Birmingham Women and Children’s NHS Trust, the challenge was to provide the correct services in the right place, whilst reducing void space within the building.
Moreover, Forward Thinking Birmingham, who run the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services for those aged 0-25 on behalf of Birmingham Women and Children’s Trust, needed to relocate from a dated Victorian building, with space made available at Washwood Heath Health and Wellbeing Centre.
The Solution
The remodelling project had two key phases.
Community Diagnostic Centre
The initial phase saw major refurbishment and remodelling commissioned by University Hospitals Birmingham (UHB) via Birmingham & Solihull Integrated Care Board (ICB), resulting in the establishment of a state-of-the-art Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) which opened in Spring 2023.
Funded by NHS England’s CDC Programme, this £2.15 million investment significantly increased Birmingham’s diagnostic capacity, enabling an additional 2,000 patients to be tested per month. The CDC boasts cutting-edge imaging technology for X-ray, an external MRI, and ultrasound, plus services such as phlebotomy, echocardiograms, respiratory function testing, and dermoscopy. This transformation reinforced Washwood Heath Health and Wellbeing Centre as a core asset within the local health system.
Strategically repurposing existing areas, the refurbishment created four new treatment rooms for a relocated Urgent Care service, eliminating previously underused space.
Mental Health provision for children and young people
The second phase, completed in March 2024, focused on providing a dedicated space for Forward Thinking Birmingham (FTB), a vital mental health support service for under-25s delivered by the Birmingham Women and Children’s Hospital Trust. Previously housed in an outdated facility nearby, FTB now benefits from a modern, fit-for-purpose space within the heart of the community.
This £1.2 million investment, funded by CHP, the project showcases CHP’s commitment to providing accessible and high-quality healthcare, eliminating the need for travel to central Birmingham.
These adaptations enhance patient access to crucial services and generate significant value for the NHS. By optimising utilisation and increasing service productivity, the refurbishment delivered and continues to deliver, excellent care without incurring additional revenue costs. Importantly, the project ensured zero void space upon completion, maximising facility efficiency and productivity.
Birmingham & Solihull Community Care Collaborative is pioneering the shift from hospital to community, deploying multidisciplinary teams and implementing a new data-led care model. Washwood Heath, a new hub in East Birmingham, has seen A&E attendances fall by over 30% in the last 12 months among targeted patients, and length of hospital stay fall 14%. Focused on prevention and early intervention, this approach is now being rolled out across Birmingham and Solihull.
Diagnostic services at Washwood Heath CDC
Successful Delivery for Multi-Disciplinary Teams
These adaptations enhance patient access to crucial services and generate significant value for the NHS. By optimising utilisation and increasing service productivity, the refurbishment delivered, and continues to deliver, excellent care without incurring additional revenue costs. Importantly, the project ensured zero void space upon completion, maximising facility efficiency and productivity.
Since the delivery of the two variations, an evaluation of the ‘East Birmingham Hub’ reported impressive statistics regarding the services in the building, which showed that from December 2023 to December 2024, there was (Source: NHS England):
- 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 the 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
Read: NHS England case study Provision of person-centred holistic care delivered by neighbourhood multidisciplinary teams (high intensity use focused) 5 March 2025.
These increases are only part of the success of the developments at Washwood Heath and Wellbeing Centre.
Up until March 2025, the Echocardiology department has seen 4000 patients, there have been 16500 more MRI scans and 21000 non-obstetric appointments undertaken.
The ability to deliver 41,500 more appointments outside of a hospital setting for those in the area, alongside the variety of other services, is a prime example of what can be delivered with partners working closely together throughout the NHS primary care estate. Moreover, it highlights CHP’s ability to use their regional expertise and ability to place the right services, in the right place, for those who need it most.
Further information shows that in the first 12 months since Washwood Heath began operating, GP visits among the local population supported by the centre fell by 31%, A&E attendances by 20% and admissions to hospital by 21%.
The most recent addition to the centre is an emergency service for patients with respiratory illness that opened in December to address the fact that around 40% of admissions to the nearby Heartlands Hospital related to lung and breathing conditions.
So far the service, which is staffed by UHB respiratory specialist nurses and doctors, has seen in 670 patients. (source: BBC News).
Washwood Heath Health and Wellbeing Centre In the news
Read: BBC InDepth: The English neighbourhood that claims to hold the secret to fixing the NHS.
(18 April 2025)
Conclusion
Washwood Heath Health and Wellbeing Centre serves as an example of creative problem solving and innovative design by CHP and its partners in Birmingham. It also shows the effective use of the public estate and support for primary care estate strategy. Bringing the right services to the heart of the community, helping to reduce the NHS backlog and driving productivity within a modern and well-equipped workspace. The integration of state-of-the-art MRI scanning and mental health services further solidifies Washwood Heath Health and Wellbeing Centre’s position as a vital hub for Birmingham’s healthcare landscape.
Read more: Washwood Heath Health Centre provides further place-based care (July 2023).
Summary
Maximising the CHP NHS LIFT estate
Improved NHS estates utilisation including disposal of unfit for purpose facilities
Capacity for additional appointments serving the local and regional population
Supporting place-based care, healthcare delivery of ‘one-stop shop’
Improved health and wellbeing for staff and patients
Testimonials
Washwood Heath Health and Wellbeing Centre has allowed CHP and our partners to bring vital services closer to the local community and out of hospital in areas of high health need and deprivation. These changes not only improve the utilisation of a core, high quality, NHS asset but provide a fantastic example of what can be achieved across the estate in the midlands. It is vital that partnership working allows us to deliver more neighbourhood hubs across the region providing better experiences for patients. Washwood Heath is a brilliant example that I hope can be replicated across the region.
These projects, although challenging to coordinate, have provided the outcomes we wanted for the Washwood Health facility. They have relocated an essential paediatrics function from a very poor condition building, added essential local services for the community and reduced the void costs the ICS.
Watch: A Virtual Visit to Washwood Heath Health and Wellbeing Centre, sourced from Birmingham and Solihull Community Care Collaborative
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