Brooker Centre faces demolition

THE Brooker Centre mental health unit in Runcorn is facing demolition as part of the £40m redevelopment of Halton Hospital.

A letter from councillors in the east Runcorn branch of the Labour Party to the Weekly News said they ‘understand’ that there is a proposal to bulldoze the building, which provides inpatient and outpatient services.

Warrington And Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (WHH) announced in February that it had tabled a bid for £40m to create a ‘health campus’ at the Halton Hospital site, featuring care homes, social and key worker housing, shops and a post office, general practitioners, a diagnostics unit and a short-stay rehabilitation unit.

The letter from east Runcorn councillors comes three weeks after the Weekly News asked WHH whether the Brooker Centre was facing closure.

However, the trust has yet to respond.

North West Boroughs Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, which manages the centre, has not commented on the claims.

The councillors’ joint letter said: “There is, we understand, a proposal to demolish the Brooker Centre.

“Mental health is a serious issue in Halton.

“What are the proposals to replicate this much needed unit? Will there be sufficient number of in-patient beds? And how does the trust propose to replace the existing beds lost by demolition to the existing hospital?

“There is no mention, for example, of medical wards at all in these proposals.

“Will there be adequate out-patient facilities?”

WHH was approached for comment.