£17m North Hull health centre opens

By [fsalter]

A £14m one-stop health and council centre has opened in the heart of a North Hull community.

The Orchard Centre enables residents to go for a coffee while they wait for their prescription, pay their council bills and surf the internet, or even take their baby for a massage before they go to the dentist.

The huge structure, with escalators and a glass atrium, took 19 months to build and includes two doctors' surgeries, dental services, physiotherapy and speech therapy clinics, toddler groups, stop-smoking sessions, and family planning and midwifery clinics.

The building has a cafe and community centre, and Hull City Council's customer service centre, where people can access everything from housing to disability services.

The doctors' surgeries and council services opened their doors for the first time yesterday and the other NHS services will open gradually over the next two weeks.

A Boots pharmacy is planned, but a date for opening has not been confirmed.

Dave Fowlie, chair of the Thorpe Residents' Association, said: "The building will hopefully kick-start regeneration in Orchard Park.

"It brings all sorts of services under one roof and that can only be good for the whole of north Hull."

The new building is a partnership between NHS Hull, Hull City Council and Citycare, the local health regeneration partnership.

Orchard Park is one of several estates to received new multi-million pound health centres.

Kingswood and Bilton Grange opened their doors recently and a £15m Wilberforce Health Centre will open in Albion Square, in the city centre, next year.

Kath Lavery, chair of NHS Hull, added: "It is brilliant to see this iconic new building finally opening its doors to the public.

"Residents feel rightly proud of their facility.We hope that residents appreciate the choice of services and the convenience it now offers them."