Stourbridge Health and Social Care Centre
John Corbett Drive, Stourbridge, West Midlands. DY8 4JB
This is a purpose-designed locality-based Health and Social Care Centre, to serve a locality population of 55,139 in Stourbridge. The Centre provides a base for locality clinics where a population greater than GP practice level is required, such as community nursing and long-term conditions clinics, physiotherapy, chiropody and dental services. This includes the relocation and expansion of the health services which were housed in Westhill Clinic, Stourbridge. The Centre also provides a base for the joint health and social care team for Learning Disabilities and for DSPCT’s Locality management support team, together with reprovision of an up-to-date surgery for the Audnam Lodge GP practice including growth for the increasing population of Stourbridge. New modernised services under the Primary and Community Services Development Plan have been developed as more NHS funding is channelled into community-based services.
In addition, the new Health Centre accommodates the local six-partner practice GP surgery (Three Villages Medical Practice) which was at Audnam Lodge. This replaced an old converted lodge house, which did not meet statutory standards, nor was it capable of being extended or adapted to deliver modern, expanded primary care service under the new GMS contract and future PbC developments.
The Centre is the base for the Community Learning Disabilities Team covering the South of the Borough, was moved from their over-crowded location in Gate Lodge (also on the Corbett Site) into the new accommodation at the Centre. This supports joint working with the local GPs and clinical service providers. The accommodation needs were expanded to co-locate the Halesowen team to extend further joint integrated working within the South of the Borough.
The new Centre was built on the site of the Corbett Hospital after the services provided there were transferred to Russells Hall Hospital, and the Acute Diagnostic and Treatment Centre were opened.
The Centre replaced outdated and cramped facilities dispersed within the Stourbridge locality:
- The backlog maintenance of the Westhill Clinic, Gate Lodge, Audnam Lodge and their locality offices on Ridge Hill equating to £57,200 as those properties did not meet Statutory standards such as DDA compliance, Health and Safety, Infection Control and current accommodation size specifications.
- The site of Westhill Clinic did not allow the expansion of primary care service developments because the site was land-locked by a residential development. Due to adjacent developments it did not provide adequate parking for either parapetic staff or patients attending the clinics. Two of the three nursing teams based there were relocated to alternative sites in order to continue working as a result of inadequate accommodation and parking.
- The scheme brought together three community nursing teams, allowing joint working and better skill mix to improve delivery, both in and out of hours for the locality.
- The improved accommodation enabled an extended range of nursing clinics supporting coronary heart diseases, diabetes, asthma and other chronic conditions. Dudley has developed a model of care for people with long term conditions and this is described in the SSDP.
- The new facility at Stourbridge provides nurses with the opportunity to deliver Expert Patients programmes and Health Promotion events at Tier 1, to empower patients to take opportunity for their self care. Furthermore, the Assertive Case Managers who are case managing patients at Tier 3, are able to run specialist locality clinics focusing on the more complex conditions.
- Health visitors are able to extend health promotion sessions and keep fit clubs both in and out of hours in the enhanced accommodation.
- Heart failure diagnostic and maintenance clinics can be delivered to the locality from the enhanced accommodation.
- Phlebotomy and anti-coagulation clinics enable local residents to attend the locality health centre, rather than attending the over-crowded clinics at the acute hospital in the centre of Dudley.
- More appropriate accommodation is provided for the leg ulcer clinics.
- The Scheme has enabled the introduction of Lymphedema clinics as a new service to the locality.
- Development of appropriate accommodation for minor operations enables GPs within the locality access to safe modern purpose-built facilities that meet infection control standards, which can be booked for the delivery of minor operations for their clinics.
- Introduced a GP with Specialist Interest in minor surgery funded within the Enhanced Services floor for the Stourbridge locality.
- The Councils Development Plan proposed a new housing estate of some 250 houses on the old Corbett Hospital site, adjacent to the Stourbridge Health and Social Care Centre. This regeneration of a brown-field site required additional services for the population and were planned accordingly with the local council and GPs.
- The Scheme enabled the expansion of the local GP practice and supports direct referral to co-located primary care services.
- It includes simple diagnostic and treatment services, namely non-obstetric ultrasound, echo-cardiographs, counselling services, speech and language therapy, chiropody, dental and the orthopaedic triage service. The orthopaedic triage service facilitate the implementation of choice at the point of referral to secondary care in orthopaedics which was a national target with all orthopaedic referrals triaged by extended scope practitioners/physiotherapists through the implementation of a clinical assessment centre. This supports the commitment to develop primary care led services reducing the demand on secondary care releasing resources for re-investment in primary care development.
- The co-location of a Pharmacy provides opportunity for joint and integrated medicines management, and the independent Pharmacy allows patients to obtain their medicines on site.
- The Centre provides appropriate accommodation for the Community Dental Service. The arrangement in the centre provides improved access for NHS dental care for patients who are unable to access services through general dental practices.
- Previously the local GP with Special Interest in Dermatology operated clinics only from the Halesowen locality. This scheme enabled the provision of such clinics from an additional locality, thus improving services and access to the local population.
