One town gets health centre as another has scheme axed

Fiona Evans

A SITE has been chosen for a new centre in Keighley which will integrate health and social care.

Plans for another health centre, in Brighouse, have been abandoned, however.

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The Oakworth Road site, where Keighley Health Centre is based, has emerged as local people’s clear choice for the new health centre which will replace “old and outdated” premises in the area including the Oaks Resource Centre, Keighley Health Centre and Holycroft Surgery.

NHS Bradford and Airedale and Bradford Council have announced the preferred site after considering feedback from a public consultation.

John Chuter, chairman of NHS Bradford and Airedale, said: “This outcome is really good news for the people of Keighley, who were overwhelmingly in favour of the Oakworth Road site during the consultation.’’

The next step is to seek approval for the proposed Oakworth Road site from NHS Bradford and Airedale’s board and Bradford Council’s senior management team.

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The proposals will also be discussed by Bradford Council’s overview and scrutiny committee on October 14.

The consultation considered two sites: The existing site at Oakworth Road and Mitchell Street, near Bradford Road. The Cavendish Street site of the former Keighley College was also included after being suggested by the public.

As well as a GP surgery, it is proposed that the new centre will include a pharmacy, NHS dentist, x-ray, electrocardiogram checks and ultrasound and a place for older people to get fit and regain strength to help them recover from illness or accidents.

Meanwhile, plans for a multi-million pound scheme for a new health centre in Lawson Road, Brighouse, which was approved in March 2009, have been scrapped.

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Julie Lawreniuk, Director of Finance and Efficiency, NHS Calderdale, said: “Residents will continue to see services delivered locally and this decision does not impact on current services provided. ’This was a difficult decision and is one of a number of investments we have been unable to approve as a result of the challenging financial position”.

Calder Valley Conservative MP Craig Whittaker described it as an “appalling decision.’’

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