Pupils lay first brick at unique care centre for elderly
SCHOOLCHILDREN HELPED lay the first brick for a £9m care centre in Hull, the first of its kind in the country.
The centre on the former David Lister School site in Hull aims to combat unnecessary hospital admissions for elderly patients with long-term conditions like diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and strokes.
The Integrated Care Centre in Rosmead Street, which will open seven days a week, aims to assess patients and give them support to go home the same day.
As well as being assigned a care plan and care co-ordinator, patients who have been referred by their GPs will have access to physiotherapists, voluntary services, diabetic experts and other specialist services.
The facility, due to open next spring, also includes a new home for the East Hull fire and rescue service team based at Southcoates Lane.
Firefighters in Hull are already used to responding to falls, and specially-trained personnel in the new unit will help patients get moving after a period in hospital.
The Hull Clinical Commissioning Group’s vice-chairman Paul Jackson said: “We are changing the way we deliver health care for older people in Hull. Health, social care and fire and rescue service teams will work together for the first time to prevent people from going into hospital unnecessarily, and fully support them at home. This is an exciting step for everyone involved.”
Sewell Construction and Sewell Facilities Management will build and maintain the purposebuilt facility. A team of 30 construction staff are on site working on the building, and its steel frame has now been completed. Work on the roof should start at the end of the month. More than 80 social houses, mostly bungalows, for the over-65s are being built on the same site as part of separate plans.