THE Britwell community centre could be ‘remodelled’ into an integrated GP surgery to tackle the area’s health and social deprivation.

Officers presented a scheme to Slough cabinet members to transform the community halls in the hub to make way for the Avenue Medical Centre on Britwell Estate and the Britwell clinic.

In their report, they claim the medical centre – which has a patient list of 7,432 – will be relocated to a ‘modern and fit for purpose facility to better meet the health needs of the community’ whilst making the community centre more financially viable.

By bringing in integrated practices to one accessible location, officers say it will improve health outcomes in Slough’s ‘most deprived ward’ where 21.3 per cent of adults in Britwell and Northborough live in poverty with 5.3 per cent of residents saying they feel their health is ‘very bad’.

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The scheme – which is part-funded by NHS England’s Estate Technology and Transformation Fund – also seeks for the Avenue Medical Centre to have a bigger facility from 381 sqm to approximately 600 sqm

Parts of the community halls, meeting rooms, and the Slough Children’s Trust Service contact centre – which will be relocated to the Cippenham Community Centre – will be ‘remodelled’ to make way for the GP surgery.

The library will remain in the Britwell centre.

Part of the Britwell clinic site will be released to for the possibility of six new homes and the medical centre building will still be used as an administrative hub.

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This transformation is estimated to be completed in 50 weeks where users of the Britwell hub will be placed in a temporary hall facility in the building for only 35 weeks.

After that, officers said they will work on a potential ‘early handover’ of the new community centre to minimise service disruption.

If that is deemed unachievable, the users will be temporarily placed in a ‘suitable’ and ‘alternative’ provision.

Councillor Martin F. Carter (Labour: Britwell and Northborough), lead member for children and schools, said: “One of the main points of this hub is to reduce social isolation, to improve wellbeing – and there two of the things that’s happening actively in some of the smaller groups at the community centre.

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“Whilst I’m completely happy we might displace them and place them somewhere else, if we suspend those activities for the purposes of this then I say to all stakeholders in the project is to make sure we don’t lose sight of what’s being delivered at the centre already.

“In the thought process of having something better later – you could lose an enormous amount of local support for projects like these if you forget about the groups that are currently there.”

A detailed design of the plans will be completed October 23, 2020 where a completion date is anticipated to be next September.

The proposal was heard at a cabinet meeting on September 14 (Monday).