HIgh Quality Care for All - the dazzling new NHS of Lord Darzai - “ludicrous” the new health centres would lead to privatisation of GP services

Hillside Bridge Healthcare Centre in Butler Street West, Bradford 3 is run by Local Care Direct, a nationally recognised social enterprise organisation, built through the Local Improvement Finance Trust (LIFT) programme.

The Centre will include Speech and Language Therapy, Podiatry, Dietetics, Physiotherapy, Family Planning, Drug and Alcohol Services and Social Services. Practitioners with a Special Interest have been furnished with space and resource to enable them to offer Outpatient Clinics and Minor Surgery. Any member of the public will be able to use the additional services provided by these health centres, while staying registered with their local family doctor. GP appointments are available 12 hours a day with no need to be registered or book an appointment, with a guarantee that patients would be seen within half an hour.

Mr Johnson described as “ludicrous” the suggestion by campaigners that the new health centres would lead to a privatisation of GP services.

Quite why there was a campaign against this is beyond me. This quite clearly refutes the allegations that were being made. “Many of the people involved in the campaign knew that they were, quite frankly, talking rubbish and how could Her Majesty’s opposition oppose something that is so valuable to communities?

“It is not about replacing existing GP services, it is about enhancing them. The whole point about this is to provide extra capacity, not to damage existing GP services. “There were various arguments from the BMA about what this could mean for their members – we were very much on the side of the patients.

“Patients should be able to access primary care, which is the gateway to the health service, much more easily and at times that are suitable to them, not suitable to the health care professional.”

Mr Johnson described as “ludicrous” the suggestion by campaigners that the new health centres would lead to a privatisation of GP services.

Supply Chain
Accent Foundation Limited – Design & Build Contractor
West & Machell Limited – Architect
Bridges Pound Limited – Civil & Structural Engineer
OPERON – Building Services Engineer
Barry Chinn Associates – Landscape Architect
Sanderson Associates – Highways Engineer
Carillion Construction Limited – Principal and Building Contractor
Shepherd Engineering Services Limited – Building Services Contractor

GP Health Centres play a key role in the Primary and Community Care Strategy, published as part of Lord Darzi's Review of the NHS High Quality Care For All published on 30th June 2008. Summary pdf Full report pdf which reminds us at the outset that In 1996/7, the budget for the NHS in England was £33 billion; in 2008/9 it is £96 billion or nearly £2 Bn a week.

On 10 October 2007 the Secretary of State for Health, Alan Johnson, second hand car salesman manque announced a £250 million access fund. The fund will enable the NHS to establish over 100 additional new GP practices in under-served areas - and to create over 150 GP health centres (one in each PCT).

Outside the NHS there is little understanding and even less knowledge of the objectives outlined by Lord Darzi ... One is ...

Implementing wide ranging programme to support the development of vibrant, successful community health services. Where PCTs and staff choose to set up social enterprise organisations, transferred staff can continue to benefit from the NHS Pension Scheme while they work wholly on NHS funded work. We will also encourage and enable staff to set up social enterprises by introducing a ‘staff right to request’ to set up social enterprises to deliver services.

Social Enterprise organisations ?

Find out about these at this part of the NHS - and here ...."Encouraging social enterprise in health and social care is a key part of the patient led reforms. It offers patients and users a greater choice from a wider selection of convenient, innovative and responsive services.
Social enterprises involve patients and staff in designing and delivering services, improving quality and tailoring services to meet patients' needs"

Local Improvement Finance Trust (LIFT) programme ?

LIFT is a well established and successful scheme, enabling trusts and local authorities to develop new capital schemes faster than traditional procurement methods and providing a framework for long-term partnership between the public sector and private sector developers. Further information about LIFT wich is part of the Public private partnerships can be found here :

This is how it is introduced....

The Department of Health has entered a national joint venture with Partnerships UK to develop and encourage a new market for investment in primary care and community based facilities and services. They have established a joint venture company Partnerships for Health (PfH).

PfH deliver NHS LIFT, on behalf of DH, in partnership with the local health economy through the establishment of a LIFT Company. This is a limited company with the local NHS, PfH and the private sector partner all as shareholders.

This limited company - the LIFTco - owns and maintains the building and leases the premises to PCTs, GPs, Local Authority Social Services, dentists, pharmacists, etc. The local PCTs are shareholders in the LIFTco to protect the public interest .

In opening the centre the Minister said ..."I congratulate Local Care Direct - a social enterprise which successfully competed for this contract - on their determination to contribute towards tackling health inequalities in Bradford."

Local Care Direct ?

Local Care Direct is based at Unit 3 Pennine Business Park, Longbow Close, Bradley, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, UKHD2 1GQ

It has an Advisory Council , Non Executive Directors and Executive Directors and employs people ... currently they are looking for Salaried GPs at the Hillside Bridge Health Care Centre - Bradford (full & part time) £60k -£70k + NHS Pension Scheme and a part time Practice Nurse
LCD at Hillside Bridge Health Centre - Salary £26 to £28k + NHS Pension Scheme.

You can apply on line to become a member of Local Care Direct (Local Care Direct currently has 788 members) it is not immediately evident what this means or benefits it provides .. nor is there any evidence who appoints the Directors, their salaries and contracts of Employment.



This is the Deeplish LIFT named by Alan Johnson when he was in town on 17th October as "NyeBevan House" Total cost to build - £9.474m The scheme consists of a new four storey care centre of 4,342m2. It will have:• 4 GP practices • PCT services including OT, Dental, Orthoptics, Podiatry, Audiology • Integrated Care Assessment and Treatment services ICATS • Imaging suite . Annual running costs have been identified as £3.252m

ICATS are called Integrated Care Assessment and Treatment services (ICATS) and it will also be provided by the independent sector.

These services are ..."a radical development whereby the independent sector will provide triage, assessment, diagnostic and some treatment services in a number of specialties, outside local acute trusts, on referral from GPs. The specialties are; ENT , General surgery , Gynaecology , Orthopaedics , Rheumatology ,Urology "- the BMA fears that plans for these privately-run CATS centres in England could represent a significant threat to local NHS hospitals by jeopardising NHS finances, threaten medical posts, and create potential conflicts of interest.

Hillside Bridge Health Care Centre have benefited from the Bradford and Airedale Teaching Primary Care Trust (tPCT)and their private sector partner – Accent Foundation and have successfully commissioned public art work in most of our new facilities, the total value of which exceeds £40,000.

Three murals – ‘Spiral’, ‘Sunflower’ and ‘Tree’ – were expertly produced for Hillside Bridge Health Care Centre using ‘the celebration of diversity and connectivity of life on our planet’ as the key theme. Year 5 pupils from Barkerend Primary School helped with the designs and the Hillside Bridge Health Care Centre Public and Patient Involvement Group also assisted in the creation of the art work. The chief artist, Jo Knowles, used acrylic paint in the application of the designs.

Funding: Bradford and Airedale Teaching Primary Care Trust
Art’s Organisation: Kirkgate Studios and Workshops (www.ksandw.org)
Artist: Jo Knowles