After securing the first 10% of funding needed to rebuild Thornbury Health Centre, the MP for Thornbury and Yate, Luke Hall, has met with the Secretary of State for Health to discuss how quickly the redevelopment can happen.
An initial sum of funding of £1.3m was recently granted to the local Integrated Care Board in South Gloucestershire, allowing them to submit a full Business Case to the Department of Health and Social Care.
The funding success followed a decade long campaign which has been spearheaded by the local MP, who has personally held several debates in Parliament on Thornbury’s health services, and launched a petition calling for an upgraded Health Centre which was submitted to Ministers at the Health Department.
Local NHS officials are now working on the final details of which health services will be included in a new Health Centre and detailing how long the rebuild will take. This work should pave the way for the MP to secure the remaining sum of £13m to enable the full redevelopment of the Health Centre.
Luke Hall has now met with the new Health Secretary, The Rt Hon Victoria Atkins MP, to discuss the Health Centre project, which includes plans to enhance outpatient services, mental health support and increase GP capacity.
The local MP also made clear that the remaining preparatory work should be sped up, so the rest of the money can be agreed without delay.
Luke said: “It’s been a long road, but we are another step closer to delivering a new Thornbury Heath Centre. I won’t stop fighting until we have secured the health services that our community needs.”
