Cabinet signs off £26m Warrington intermediate care home
The former Bewsey Old School site off Lockton Lane has been geared up for an 80-bed complex that would temporarily house those who need assistance while recovering from an illness or injury.
Warrington Council’s cabinet approved the essence of healthcare provider Warrington Place’s proposals at its meeting on Monday. The project will still require planning permission, with an application expected to be submitted soon.
The intermediate care centre would replace Warrington’s current intermediate care hubs at Padgate House and Brampton Lodge, which the council said were dated and lacked capacity. Those two centres offer only 49 beds.
Carl Marsh, NHS Cheshire and Merseyside’s place director for Warrington, described the need for the new care facility.
“Currently there are a number of patients with ‘no right to reside’ in hospital who are experiencing a delayed discharge, which can negatively impact on their health and wellbeing and ability to recover and regain their independence,” Marsh said.
“We recognise that by working together as a system to create a new care facility, we can help people to stay independent and well for longer, better manage demand and flow both in and out of the hospital and respite care, and manage current and future costs more effectively by delaying the need for long-term care services.”
In addition to 80 beds for patients to recover, the new facility would also contain offices, an area for a community care centre, and parking for 122 cars and ambulances. Warrington Place’s plans would see all of this, minus the parking, delivered across five wings and over three floors.
Regarding the project, statutory health and adult social care cabinet member Cllr Paul Warburton said: “The overall aim for this new facility is to enable more people to live independently for as long as possible, which impacts positively on outcomes for them and reduces the long-term cost of care, and it will also provide wider benefits across the whole health and care system in Warrington.”
Warrington Council’s preferred design for the intermediate care home has a capital cost of £25.8m. Funding is still being discussed with local partners and the NHS Cheshire and Merseyside’s Integrated Care Board.
