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Blackwater Valley and Hart PCT and the Army are delighted to announce that all legal documents concerning Aldershot Centre for Health have been signed.
Following the PCT’s and Army’s signature with local company The Wilky Group, the final agreements for sub-lease for the other tenants, including three GP practices, mental health services, and Frimley Park Hospital, are now completed.
Debbie Glenn, PCT Chief Executive, said: “The PCT has always been committed to providing a new health scheme for the people of Aldershot and we are thrilled that work can now begin in earnest.”
Cathy Winfield, Project Director for the PCT, said: “This is a unique and highly complex project. In many areas we have been breaking new ground and this has contributed to the project taking longer to come to fruition than we would all have liked. We would like to thank local people for their patience and forbearance during this time, and we look forward to providing a new centre for health of which we can all be proud.”
Colonel Stephen Oxlade, Aldershot Garrison Commander, said: “I am delighted that the final agreement has now been reached and look forward to work starting in earnest. The Centre will provide first-class facilities for the first-class soldiers of Aldershot and again demonstrates our commitment to the town.”
Malcolm Young, Chief Executive of The Wilky Group, said: “Negotiations were protracted, mainly due to the project’s complexity but, such is its importance to the community, all parties have spared no effort to reach this agreement.”
Work has already started on site and the scheme is due for completion by the end of 2006.
The scheme will create one of the largest Centres for Health in the UK and presents a unique opportunity to provide community and primary care services with Frimley Park Hospital and Army medical services, working in partnership with Wilky. It will make services more accessible to patients in Aldershot and support the modernisation of primary care services.
The new Aldershot Centre for Health will include:
• Three GP practices
• Army primary care services, including a 20-bed ward, a multi-doctor group practice, psychiatry services and facilities for the Standing Medical Board
• Community dental services
• Physiotherapy, podiatry and audiology
• Children’s and adult mental health services
• Community nursing
• Community drug and alcohol advisory service
• Speech and language therapy
• Diagnostic and treatment centres
• Outpatient facilities for Frimley Park Hospital
• Pharmacy
• Minor surgery unit
The military facilities of the ACH will enable the Army to provide the full range of primary care functions for the 5,000 military personnel based in Aldershot and withdraw from those medical centres it has in North Camp and the Duchess of Kent barracks. By co-locating all its facilities under one roof the Army will be able to deliver economies of scale and provide a more efficient service to patients.
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