West of Scotland secures £22m community health centres

Scots Health Secretary Alex Neil has announced the construction of two new health centres which will support communities in Glasgow and East Renfrewshire. thanks to almost £22 million in Scottish Government funding.

The new centres, at Eastwood and Maryhill, will bring GP services together and offer a range of support services, including physiotherapy, children’s services, adult mental health services, speech therapy, district nursing and health visiting.

The £22 million projects are funded by the Scottish Government and developed by hub West Scotland, in partnership with the Scottish Futures Trust, East Renfrewshire Council and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

The Scottish Government will invest a total of £21.7 million in the two new centres, £12.4m in Maryhill and £9.3m in Eastwood. East Renfrewshire Council will provide £5.5m towards the cost of the Eastwood centre.

Health Secretary Alex Neil said: “These new centres will serve Eastwood and Maryhill well for decades to come. Along with the Shields Centre, they represent a significant investment by the Scottish Government in the west of Scotland.

“These new buildings are not just good news for the patients and staff of the NHS. Investment on this scale has a tremendously positive effect on the local economy – creating jobs and apprenticeships and helping local businesses.

“The Scottish Government has an investment programme of more than £8 billion over the next two years – supporting around 50,000 full time jobs in Scotland. We remain convinced this is the best way to protect jobs and keep the Scottish economy growing.”

Debbie McNamara, Chief Executive at hub West Scotland said: “We are delighted to be working with our public and private sector partners on these projects which will deliver significant improvements in the facilities and services available to the Eastwood and Maryhill communities.

“With the confirmation of funding now in place we move into the next exciting stage of development with the project teams lined up to start work on-site this month. Morgan Sindall has been appointed by hub West Scotland to lead the construction phase of both projects.”

Robert Calderwood, Chief Executive, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said: “These new health centres in Eastwood and Maryhill will provide both communities with excellent high quality, modern health care services in accommodation fit for the 21st century.

“We are delighted that through this HUB funding model we can continue our modernisation of local healthcare facilities and this is another example of partnership working to improve local amenities.”

East Renfrewshire Councillor Alan Lafferty, Chair of the CHCP Committee, said: “This is wonderful news for East Renfrewshire and the culmination of a huge amount of partnership work between East Renfrewshire Council, NHS, hub West Scotland and Scottish Futures Trust. I am delighted that work can now begin on building this much needed facility.”