Local health services are set to be transformed after Luke Hall reached an historic agreement with the Government to make available the entire funding required to rebuild Thornbury Health Centre.
Luke Hall, who has led the campaign since being elected as the local MP, has secured written confirmation from Health Minister Lord Markham that £14.4m is being made available after an intense final round of meetings with the local MP.
The news follows an extensive nine-year campaign from the local MP Luke Hall, when the local MP joined with the community to reenergise a campaign which had lost momentum after years of setbacks.
The MP brought a series of senior Government Ministers to visit the Health Centre, including former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, to discuss how to finally make some progress. Luke then secured agreement in 2019 for the Department of Health to support the local NHS teams to draw up and submit a new improved bid for funding for a new Thornbury Health Centre.
Following numerous debates in Parliament and a community-wide petition that called on the Government to make progress on Thornbury Health Centre, in the Autumn of last year Luke Hall secured an initial £1.3m to fund a Business Case for the rebuild. Since then, the MP has been calling on the Government to deliver the full funding.
Having received the good news, Luke Hall MP is now in talks with local NHS officials and the Department of Health about the next steps. The MP and is pushing for enabling construction work to start as soon as possible, in parallel with the Department of Health working on the final details of the rebuild.
NHS officials have also confirmed that the new Health Centre will be able to deliver both existing services and host new and expanded services too, including enhanced primary care services, outpatient services, GP services, and better mental health support.
Luke said, “At last, we have achieved what we set out to do all those years ago – the money we need to build a new Health Centre for Thornbury. This could not have happened without the support from the community. Thank you to everyone who signed my petition, filled in the surveys, and lent their support to this campaign. It’s now time to finish the job and finally start the redevelopment of Thornbury’s Health Centre.”
Lord Markham, Minister for Health, stated, “I am pleased to confirm that £14.4 million is available to completely rebuild Thornbury Health Centre following Luke’s longstanding campaign.” “The Department of Health will now be working with NHS England and the Integrated Care Board to identify enabling works on the site which can happen and start as quickly as possible. Now the funding has been confirmed, it is vital we now get on and deliver a new Health Centre at Thornbury.”
