New health centres put back to 2016 (From This Is Lancashire)

New health centres put back to 2016

SIX new health centres planned for Bolton will not be completed until 2016 — three years behind schedule.

NHS Bolton revealed earlier this year that it could not keep to the timescales for its Building Better Health scheme due to its financial situation.

The organisation needs to save £14 million from its £460 million budget this year to balance its books.

The order of priority for the six centres was revealed last month and yesterday the Primary Care Trust announced work will not now start until 2012/13, with completion in 2015/16.

Avondale and Farnworth will get centres in 2012/13 with Great Lever receiving a new centre in 2013/14.

Little Lever’s unit will be built in 2014/15 and in 2015/16 Horwich and Westhoughton will be constructed.

Ismail Hafeji, finance director, said: “The important thing is that the health centres can be built without taking money away from essential healthcare services.

“We now have a realistic and affordable plan which will enable us to transform the standard of accommodation for our staff and service users and support our efforts to reduce health inequalities.

“The original timetable was agreed before the worldwide financial turmoil of the past year, and was right at the time.

“It would have been irresponsible to try to stick to it, in the face of what we now know about public sector spending plans for the future.” NHS Bolton said in May it was unlikely to keep to the schedule because, although the centres were being built by a third party at an average cost of £7 million, it must pay £1 million a year per centre in rent.

Local health needs and the state of the existing buildings were ranked to come up with the priority list, with health needs having double the weight of the building’s condition.

NHS Bolton’s board approved the new building timetable yesterday.

Building Better Health is a commitment to replacing rundown health centres with modern facilities.