Local MP Luke Hall has met with the Minister for Health, Lord Markham to push for the funding needed to rebuild Thornbury Health Centre.
Lord Markham is responsible for NHS capital, land and estates, including the new hospital programme. Luke highlighted the growing demand in the South Gloucestershire community for greater out-patient care and health service expansion and pushed the Minister on the renewed timeline for the redevelopment.
The Minister confirmed that following the MP’s intervention, a decision on the bid can be expected in the coming months.
Even before becoming MP, Luke Hall had taken up the fight to secure the redevelopment of Thornbury Health Centre, which seeks to enhance our local health services and crucially join up our local facilities to relieve pressure at Southmead Hospital and the BRI. The MP’s recent meeting is the latest in a long line of interventions by the MP. Having previously raised the matter in Parliament, Luke Hall has also written to and met with multiple Health Secretaries and Ministers and led important discussions with members of South Gloucestershire Council, our local Integrated Care Board and North Bristol NHS Trust.
The campaign reached a new milestone back in 2019, when Luke secured the personal support and commitment from the then Secretary of State for Health, promising the Government’s ongoing support to deliver this redevelopment.
Since then, Luke has teamed up with health experts in the region to develop a bid for £13.3million, to take the project to the next level. With the bid currently
under consideration, Luke met with the Health Minister, pushing for this bid to be accepted. Only last year, a significant hurdle was crossed when South Gloucestershire Council purchased the land of the former Thornbury Hospital site, which has paved the way for the project to commence. The redevelopment of the Health Centre will provide greater primary care and outpatient services to the area, enhanced mental health support, GP practices, social care and NHS beds, and a proactive ‘frailty hub’ which would focus on the elderly community receiving care in their own homes.
Residents in Thornbury, Alveston, and the surrounding towns and villages will be able access the care they need closer to home, which will in turn reduce demand on Southmead Hospital.
If the current local bid is successful, the project will progress to the next all important stage, including a masterplan and Outline Business Case, with physical work set to take place in 2025.
Luke said, “Redeveloping Thornbury Health Centre is a key part of our Positive Plan for Health. I have made the case to the Minister that our community needs this redevelopment more than ever before, and I look forward to hearing the outcome of our bid.”
