Officers from Havering Clinical Commissioning Group and NHS Property Services will update the Committee on plans for the former site of St George’s Hospital, Hornchurch.
Minutes:
The Chief Operating Officer of Havering Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) explained that the CCGH wished to have a health and wellbeing centre site of the former St George’s Hospital. An outline business case for the proposal needed to be submitted by the end of March.
A workshop had been held to update the plans for the facilities to go on the site which included a number of potential areas. There may not be a full GP practice on the site but access to GPs (as well as nurses and opticians) was likely to be offered. This could be for registered or non-registered patients. Working patients would be able to see a ‘drop-in’ GP at the site.
It was emphasised that the CCG wished to have services on the site that people wished to use and that were viable for the medium term (5-10 years). Members were not involved on the St George’s steering group but had been invited to the recent workshop. The CCG was keen to engage with the Sub-Committee on the St George’s issue and would look at involving Member as well as he Council’s Group Director in relevant meetings.
Patients treated at St George’s would be mainly from Havering but could come from other areas depending on what services were available at the site. Other proposed facilities included space to be used by the voluntary & community sector, or by Council services, an education and training centre for local people and NHS staff, diagnostics such as potentially x-ray or phlebotomy and a short-stay, rapid access assessment and diagnostic unit. A rehabilitation therapy centre was considered but this had now been overtaken by the introduction of new rehabilitation services.
Services such as diagnostics and the day assessment unit needed further work to ensure that they would be fully used if they were to be introduced to the site.
The findings of the recent workshop had included that services should be co-located and that the site should have a focus on wellbeing. It was felt that some mental health services should be available on the site and that the sharing of care records within a multi-disciplinary approach would be the best way to address patients’ needs.
Specification and modelling for the facility was being developed prior to the submission of the outline business case. There had also been significant changes to the local health economy recently with the GP Federation being established and evening and weekend GP access being introduced. The complex care organisation – Health 1,000 was also now in operation.
An options appraisal of the proposed new services at St George’s was currently underway. Funding for the new facilities would be separate from the rest of the health economy. Funds from the sale of the St George’s site went into national resources and the CCG could apply for capital to build the new centre at St George’s. It was also confirmed that NHS 111 would direct patients to any services on the St George’s site.
There was not likely to be a walk-in centre at St George’s as the CCH wished to build up the capacity of the existing GP hubs. The GP Federation hubs or NHS 111 would be able to supply GP appointments in the future and the CCG wished to reduce the demand for GP appointments. The Chief Operating Officer of the CCG agreed to check the number of patients at Harold Wood clinic who arrived with urgent needs and needed to see a GP.
It was confirmed that the short stay facility would be a day unit with no overnight beds. A primary care community team on the site could see patients on site or in people’s homes. This could include day clinics and outpatient appointments. The facility overall would be a combination of office base and treatment centre.
A representative from NHS Property then explained that the overall St George’s site comprised 11.74 hectares of Green Belt and that the hospital had been decommissioned in 2012. A lot of work had been undertaken on the proposals with Council planning officers. The plans for housing had been presented to Cabinet, local ward Councillors and the Regulatory Services Committee. A public exhibition of the housing plans in December 2014 had been attended by over 100 people and received 40 written responses. About 80% of responses received had been positive. Concerns raised had covered areas such as healthcare facilities, traffic impact and the impact on the local infrastructure.
The St George’s site being Green Belt land meant redevelopment could take place to the overall area of the existing buildings. There were also nature conservation issues on the Ingreboune Valley side of the site. The existing buildings were in poor condition but did have heritage value. A new access point would be needed and it was noted that the land to the east of the site was owned by a third party which would mean further access issues.
Healthcare would occupy 15% of the site and it was planned to these facilities on the north west corner of the site, nearest to the station and town centre. The road along the frontage of the hospital would receive a new junction for access and would be widened to assist the flow of traffic.
Ancillary buildings such as the laundry, corridor and large chimney would be demolished but some buildings such as the Gate House, Ingrebourne and administration buildings would be retained. Retained buildings could be converted into apartments.
The healthcare facility would be up to 3,000 m2 of floor space with 50 parking spaces. There would be a total of 130 apartments and 160 houses built on the site. The work had been split into nine indicative phases although the developer would make the final decisions on this. It was confirmed that the healthcare and residential elements would be covered by separate planning applications which would be submitted in the next few weeks.
15-20% of the properties would be affordable housing. It was anticipated that a developer would be appointed by late 2015 and work, on the residential areas, would start by late 2016. Most of the housing would be 2-3 stories although three apartment blocks would be up to 4 stories in height. These would however be difficult to see from Suttons Lane. The housing would be built to wheelchair adaptable standards.
The Chairman added that ward Councillors who had attended the public consultation had been pleased with the presentation and that 97% of local residents were in favour of the housing plans.
The Sub-Committee NOTED the update and thanked officers for their input into the meeting.