Princes Park Health Centre Celebrates Community and Well-being

Princes Park Health Centre in Liverpool recently hosted a delightful afternoon tea at its vibrant new community garden. The event was put on to commemorate Learning Disabilities Week and showcased the garden's burgeoning success as a space for healing, growth, and community spirit.

The festivities were organised by Ruth Hollywood, Care Coordinator for Learning Development for the Brownlow GP Practice, and her dedicated team. Attendees enjoyed an array of delicious tea, cakes, and sweet treats, alongside engaging activities like painting and crafting, fostering a joyful and inclusive atmosphere.

The creation of the community garden has been a collaborative effort between Community Health Partnerships (CHP) and the Brownlow GP Practice, along with crucial funding from Liverpool and Sefton Health Partnership (LIFTCo).

Officially opened in April this year, the garden has quickly blossomed, yielding not only an abundance of fresh produce but also a rich harvest of human connections. The garden proudly showcases a variety of fruit and vegetables, including rhubarb, courgettes, chives, carrots, broccoli, squash, mint, beetroot, parsley, raspberries, and strawberries. 

Beyond patient well-being, the garden fosters connections among neighbours and provides mental health benefits for all, including staff who also enjoy the green space. Looking ahead, Carolanne has exciting plans to host sessions for refugee groups, focusing on mindfulness and breathing exercises, as well as initiating men's health groups.

The Princes Park community garden stands as a testament to the power of green spaces in fostering health, happiness, and connection within the heart of the community.

New report finds LIFT estate provides added value and long-term cost certainty as community-based infrastructure seen as key to delivering Neighbourhood Health Services

The report: “The NHS Local Improvement Finance Trust (LIFT): Occupancy Cost

Assessment” finds that the LIFT estate has delivered a host of qualitative and quantitative benefits:

• The LIFT estate has improved the quality and accessibility of services for patients and communities by providing modern, fit-for-purpose and integrated facilities that are flexible and adaptable.

• LIFT provides long term cost certainty to NHS tenants via comprehensive lease agreements. Lease payments for tenants are fixed at lease agreement andincrease in line with retail price inflation (RPI) only.

• By comparison commercial rents have increased by 25% in the last seven years. In addition, whilst the rental payment for LIFT premises is higher than a typical commercial development, LIFT agreements provide more services, hence value, than would be offered under standard commercial alternatives.

• LIFT costs include maintenance and lifecycle and provide value for money through ensuring there is no backlog maintenance reducing the significant and increasing cost and risk of maintaining an ageing NHS estate elsewhere.

It is clear from this report that the LIFT estate presents value for money and other significant benefits to the NHS, its patients and staff. Increasing utilisation of the LIFT buildings as core health assets will enable the NHS to deliver the Government’s mission, drive up NHS productivity and transform care delivery while achieving greater value.

Working together, we can support the NHS with estate solutions that enables the shift of services into local communities, drive up productivity and unlock value from the current physical infrastructure.

The report evidences the continuing importance of the LIFT buildings, underlining the fact that they are largely located in areas of high health needs and ideally placed to support the Government’s ambition of a Neighbourhood Health Service with more prevention and health care delivered locally.

You can read more and download a copy here.

The NHS Local Improvement Finance Trust (LIFT): Occupancy Cost Assessment

Pool Table Donation Brings Fun & Connection to Litherland Family Wellbeing Centre

Earlier this week, Debbie Knowles, Operational Family Hub Manager for Litherland Family Wellbeing Centre (part of the LSHP estate portfolio) was delighted to accept a kind donation of a Pool Table from gbp's IT Services provider, Broad Access Services (BAS).

The donation was facilitated by gbp's Estates Manager Louise Hallaron and CHP's Denise Cottam - with courier costs paid by the gbp foundation.

Lesley, Central Sefton Locality Manager, can be seen in the pictures below using the table ahead of the Centres Christmas Party! The Pool Table will be set up in the Recreation Room for all visitors (and staff) of the centre to enjoy.

Louise will be keeping in contact with Debbie and Lesley in the New Year to explore opportunities to make links with our Health Centres (Litherland, Southport & Ainsdale), to showcase the Family Wellbeing centre’s services to the local communities we reach.

Thank you BAS, Denise and Louise for making this happen!

Lesley, Central Sefton Locality Manager testing out the pool table.