GP practice moves to £15m shopping centre facilities
Medway Community HealthcareA GP practice has relocated to new £15m health facilities in a Kent shopping centre.
Bryant Healthcare has moved into the James Williams NHS Healthy Living Centre at the Pentagon Centre, Chatham, becoming the first practice to do so since it opened.
The centre, funded by NHS Kent and Medway and Medway Council, is designed to house GP and community health services in the same space in a bid to better coordinate care.
Dr Kate Langford, chief medical and outcomes officer for NHS Kent and Medway, said: "It's fantastic to see this healthy living centre open for the people of Chatham to use."
Langford added: "The healthy living centre will help us achieve our neighbourhood health remit, a new way of delivering health and care services that focuses on supporting people closer to home, in their local communities, and helping them stay well for longer."
More services will move into the centre later in the month, including the Maritime Health Partnership which will run a same day assessment hub, frailty team and prescribing hub from the site.
The centre will be managed by Medway Community Healthcare, and is named after the area's late director of public health, James Williams.
Medway Council deputy leader Teresa Murray described the centre's opening as a "poignant" moment.
She said: "This new facility in Chatham town centre provides more opportunities for Medway residents to access healthcare, whilst supporting the NHS' long-term plan for neighbourhood health, bringing services closer to where residents live and helping us to have an even stronger focus on tackling health inequalities."
She described Williams as a "compassionate and highly devoted leader" who was "determined to improve health and care outcomes" for residents.
"He championed the underdog and ensured that everyone - of all backgrounds - had the chance to achieve their potential," she added.
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