01905 362120
01905 362120
Prima 200, which has developed 10 new NHS health centres across North Staffordshire with partners NHS Stoke on Trent and NHS North Staffordshire, has been chosen as Best LIFT (Local Improvement Finance Trust) Company by a national panel of public sector judges at the prestigious PPF Awards 2010.
This major award recognises five years of successful Prima 200 partnerships, including the areas’ PCTs, Prime, and communities across Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire who have all worked hard together to deliver new health centres to improve the health and wellbeing of local residents.
Success stories developed through Prima 200 range from the award winning extra care village Mill Rise in Newcastle-under-Lyme, which provides a hub of housing, healthcare and leisure facilities for the local community, to Middleport Medical Centre where Stoke-on-Trent north MP Joan Walley worked with the community and the PCT to bring residents their first new health centre. Prima 200s work with local partners indicated significant need in Middleport and when the new centre opened, 350 patients registered in the first week, with 719 patients now registered to date. The 60 properties available to over 55s at Mill Rise filled within three months of opening, and the centre continues to generate ongoing positive feedback from residents and patients.
Prima 200 has also had to tackle challenges on behalf of Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire communities including transforming a historical building and former bank to create Hanley Health and Wellbeing Centre and finding a new site for the rural-based, much needed Audley Health Centre, which finally came from the local cricket club. Each development has aimed to meet the specific needs of the community involved. At Audley Health Centre a new building, improved opening hours and extended services saw the patient community grow by 7% in nine months, and staff and patients continue to comment on the centres impact.
Julie Stokes Manager of Audley Medical Practice comments: “The health centre is one of the hubs of the community and it’s a big part of people’s lives here. Everyone’s delighted with it. The patients love it – they can’t quite believe it when they walk in. We struggled to offer extended services in the old building – but now we’re able to provide them in just the right settings. It’s what the patients in Audley deserve.”
With 10 centres built to date Prima 200 looks forward to working together in partnership with local communities, NHS Stoke on Trent and NHS North Staffordshire on many more new projects.
Formed in 2005 with their own offices based at Shelton Primary Care Centre (a Prima 200 development), Prima 200 is one of 48 other LIFT companies based in towns and cities up and down the country that are all working hard to regenerate health and social care facilities, making it a great accolade to be recognised as Best LIFT Company in these national awards.
Dr Ann Pursey, Chief Executive of Prima 200, adds: “It is fantastic that Prima 200 and its partners have been recognised for consistently delivering what is wanted and always to a very high standard. Our new and refurbished buildings are helping the local PCTs and other partners to deliver much needed improvements in health and social care for communities across the region. My thanks go to everyone involved, in particular the teams at NHS North Staffordshire and NHS Stoke on Trent, Prime and those local community members who have been actively involved in each development. The award is a reflection of how well the partnership is working in North Staffordshire and the difference we are making to local people.”