NHS chiefs to be quizzed over the scrapping of Keighley health centre (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

NHS chiefs to be quizzed over the scrapping of Keighley health centre

7:00am Monday 18th February 2013 in News By Chris Young, T&A Reporter

NHS bosses will explain why they decided to scrap a £15 million health centre in Keighley during a grilling by councillors this Thursday.

The Keighley Health and Wellbeing Centre was officially dropped from the NHS’s plans late last month, to the surprise of councillors in the town.

Instead of a new, purpose-built centre, the focus will be on community-based healthcare, with more services provided in people’s homes. Although the existing Keighley Health Centre will be improved, that work will cost £300,000 – two per cent of the original budget.

But the NHS claims patients will be just as happy, or even more satisfied, without the new health centre.

Members of the Airedale, Bradford and Leeds NHS Board have been called before Bradford Council’s Health and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee, who will ask why the decision was made.

Proposed for Oakworth Road, the health centre was to include NHS, Council and voluntary services, and Bradford Council invested £1 million in the project – which remains set aside in a Council account.

An NHS report says: “Since the commitment was made the development of thinking about integrated care, together with the implementation of commissioning reforms, has resulted in the Keighley Health and Social Care economy developing an alternate solution.

“The benefits of developing a new health and wellbeing centre in Keighley can be achieved at less cost and with equivalent or greater levels of patient and resident satisfaction and improvements in health and social care outcomes, by the continued implementation of integrated care arrangements.”

It says the decision was “the best use of taxpayer money.”

Scrutiny committee member Councillor Adrian Naylor (Ind, Craven), said: “What I want to know is if the decision to scrap the health centre was made on clinical advice from professionals, or for budget purposes. Can we get a cast iron guarantee that this solution will deliver the services we expect for the people of Keighley? I think quite a few councillors on the committee will be concerned about how this has happened.”