Residents in the centre of Oldham have been left reeling after support for the area's new health centre was dropped on a Zoom call just before the work was due to begin.
Shaw and Crompton was finally set to benefit from a massive boost to healthcare services with a new health centre on the cards after years of campaigning. The Crompton Health Centre, on the High Street, houses both the Oak Gables Partnership and the Village Medical Practice, in a building which is outdated and "falling apart at the seams" according to local councillors.
In December last year, people in the area were told funding had been secured for a new purpose-built facility - providing work could start by the end of March 2022. Despite chiefs saying this caveat was a "significant challenge" to the proposal, residents and councillors were delighted that years of pushing had finally seen progress, but it seems the news was too good to be true.
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On Thursday, March 31, the Oak Gables Partnership uploaded a post to their website, explaining the surgery had been told by the CCG via Zoom that the plans were no longer viable, before receiving a letter to confirm the support had been dropped. The practice said the decision was made despite a site being chosen for the new centre, with a developer commissioned and plans submitted for the new building.
A spokesperson for the surgery said: "The practice is beyond upset and exasperated, as we really believed it was the light at the end of the tunnel this time and we hoped that we could give our patients the clean, modern, functional premises that you all deserve, with greater scope for additional services again. Unfortunately, this is now not going to happen anytime soon, which leaves the question, when all the new homes are built in Shaw, where are the population going to go if we haven’t got the clinical infrastructure to support them?
"Our current premises only had a 30-year lifespan and 50 years later it is still being stuck together by any means possible, but you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear! We intend to put our disappointment to one side and carry on fighting for these premises."
The practice then uploaded the letter they received from the CCG, which outlines rising costs from Covid, the Ukrainian conflict, and inflation as some of the reasons behind the change in heart - as the project was now expected to cost an extra £500,000. The letter then went on to say the idea hadn't been scrapped entirely, although officials needed to "pause and reflect" on the next steps for the project.
A spokesperson for the CCG said: “We are also disappointed in the change in situation and the impact this has had on the plans for the project. As a result of the pandemic, recent tragic events in Eastern Europe and the cost-of-living crises, our national economy faces significant challenges and has major implications in terms of pressure on public finances and rising prices through inflation.
“We are committed to working with the GP practices involved, along with the Local Authority, to move the project forward appropriately to support the local community. Together we will work out what options we may have available to us and the potential timescale to continue to seek a secure facility for Shaw.”
Councillors in the area were equally taken aback by the plans being dropped, and have vowed to fight for answers and a solution to the current health centre's problems. Shaw councillor and leader of the Liberal Democrats in Oldham Howard Skyes said: "Shaw and Crompton councillors have worked incredibly hard to reach the position where this was ready to go, with the site ready to go, capital funding allocated, a developer commissioned, and plans developed.
"This is a massive kick in the teeth and a great disappointment to our local community and those who use and work in the current Health Centre. All six councillors will continue, as we have for many years, to campaign for its replacement and to hold those responsible for our local health services to account and make sure they deliver what the Shaw and Crompton community needs and rightly expects.
"That is local health faculties fit for purpose with a range of services people expect in the 21st century. This is just not possible in the current patched up building that is well past its sell by date. On top of this we have hundreds of new homes being built in the area. Where are these families supposed to go for primary health care? Our fight and campaign for facilities that enable increased capacity of quality health services continues until this is delivered."
