DH gives green light for four social care PFI schemes
DESPITE cuts to capital funding, the Department of Health has today announced continued financial support for four local authority social care PFI projects.
The schemes to receive PFI credits are based in Leeds, Hull, Sandwell and Hammersmith and will provide community social care and health facilities for vulnerable people.
Announcing the news today, Care Services Minister, Paul Burstow said: “I’m pleased to be able to confirm funding for these four projects which all promise a fantastic boost to their local communities.
“These ambitious schemes include plans to build bridges between health and social care, which is key to developing services that fit around peoples lives and deliver personalised care and support.”
The Hammersmith scheme, put forward by NHS Hammersmith in conjunction with Hammersmith and Fulham Council, will see the creation of a collaborative care centre in the White City area. The building will house integrated services for learning disability, physical disability and a community mental health team, alongside 15 GPs and a range of primary care services.
In Hull three extra care sites will be constructed, providing a mix of general, respite and dementia care, combined with a mostly residential development of seven centres for elderly people and those with learning or other mental disabilities, totalling 200 beds. It will include communal health facilities such as treatment rooms that can be used by visiting healthcare professionals to support the care of those with long-term conditions. There will also be areas for district nurses, chiropodists and a satellite GP surgery.
In Holt Park, Leeds, an adult social care community wellbeing centre will be built; part of a larger development that includes a new school and extra care accommodation for elderly people.
The fourth scheme, in Sandwell, will see the construction of a sports and leisure centre where priority will be given to disabled adults receiving social care services.
All the schemes were among 17 projects that the Department of Health decided to review at the end of 2010 due to growing financial pressure and ongoing criticism over the problem of meeting PFI repayments.
Commenting on the news, Councillor Lucinda Yeadon, Leeds City Council executive committee member for adult health and social care, said: “We were delighted to hear this morning that the Department of Health has approved the new wellbeing centre for Holt Park.
“The facility will provide a much-needed new resource for people of all ages in north-west Leeds to access a whole range of health facilities and services. We are still waiting to hear the full detail of the Government’s support for the project, but once we do the plans can progress accordingly.”