Government promises 250 neighbourhood health centres staffed by nurses

The government has committed to opening 250 neighbourhood health centres, with 100 of these opening by 2030, under its ‘neighbourhood rebuild programme’.

These centres will be ‘one stop shops’, including nurses, GPs, dentists and pharmacists under one roof, with the most deprived areas prioritised first.

But the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) warned that while nurses working in the community will be ‘crucial’ to these centres, workforce numbers have ‘collapsed by thousands’ over the last decade.

The announcement comes ahead of the Autumn Budget, expected to be delivered by Chancellor Rachel Reeves tomorrow (26 November).

During the budget, Ms Reeves is also expected to announce £300m of new capital investment for NHS technology to support productivity.

The commitment to more than 100 of the neighbourhood centres being opened by 2030 follows on from a speech health secretary Wes Streeting made in July, where he aimed for 250-300 centres by 2035, and 40-50 over the course of this parliament.

Mr Streeting previously suggested nurses should lead neighbourhood health services as part of the government’s 10-year plan for the NHS.

This new announcement from the government stated that these centres would be delivered by a mixture of refurbishments to expand and improve sites over the next three years, and new-build sites that would have more of a medium-term timeline.

It mentioned several centres that would see refurbishment as part of the plans. These included Alfred Barrow Health Centre in Barrow-in-Furness, the Stockland Green and Summerfield Primary Care Centres in Birmingham and the Jubilee Gardens Centre in Ealing.

It added that the centres would be delivered through a combination of public-private partnerships and public investment to ‘build further evidence and compare different models of delivery’.

Health minister, Karin Smyth said the centres would ‘fundamentally reimagine’ how the NHS works.

‘The chancellor is rightly boosting investment in the NHS after we inherited a health service on its knees – with Lord Darzi’s investigation uncovering a £40 billion black hole. But funding will only get us so far. We need to use every measure available to us, which is why we’re leveraging in private investment to construct some of these centres, making the most of all expertise and every tool at our disposal,’ she said.

‘Our new NHS Rebuild approach will give the health service the investment it needs, repurposing and building a new generation of neighbourhood health centres across the country. It will go hand in hand with reform and efficiency – ensuring proper value for money for taxpayers.’

Responding to the news, executive director of RCN England, Patricia Marquis, said: ‘The chancellor has rightly identified nursing staff as the expert clinicians to lead these “one stop shops”, which can help deliver more timely interventions closer to home, easing pressures on hospitals and improving outcomes.

‘The very nurses crucial to these centres are likely to be those already working out in the community, including district nurses and health visitors, but their numbers have collapsed by thousands in the last decade or more.’

Ms Marquis reiterated calls for an urgent ‘detailed and fully-funded’ workforce plan which focuses on roles needed within nursing and especially community nursing.

Meanwhile, Ruth Rankine, director of primary care the NHS Confederation said: ‘The creation of a Neighbourhood Health Service has the potential to empower the NHS to deliver even more patient-first, joined-up care.

‘Bringing teams together under one roof can significantly improve services for the public and patients and provide more cohesive relationships between health and care professionals.

‘Innovative use of existing estate across the whole of the NHS as well as local authorities, with the potential for new private sector investment, will support the delivery of neighbourhood services and ensure patients can access them more easily closer to home.’

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves added: ‘At the Budget I’ll set out how we’ll deliver on the country’s priorities to cut NHS waiting times, cut debt and cut the cost of living.

‘We’re driving down waiting lists by bringing healthcare to patients’ doorsteps and turbocharging NHS productivity with cutting-edge technology.

‘Our record investment, combined with ruthless efficiency and reform, will deliver the better care and better outcomes our NHS patients deserve.’

Recent research from the Nuffield Trust found the number of district nurses has plummeted by a staggering 43% since 2009.

A version of this article was first published by our sister title Pulse PCN