AFTER more than three years in the works, a new ‘game-changing’ facility has opened in the town centre.

The Living Well Hub has officially opened its doors today, Monday.

Located on Horsemarket Street, the multi-million-pound hub is designed to help people with their health and wellbeing needs, while reducing inequalities, and supporting town centre regeneration.

And it has resulted in ‘true collaboration, with 25 organisations and more than 350 staff set to provide a wide range of NHS and non-clinical services under one roof.

Thousands of people are expected to use the building over the next 12 months, with spaces shared by teams from Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (WHH), Warrington Borough Council, Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust, and support from voluntary and charitable sector partners.

The hub is set across three floors. The ground floor is a community-led space with a café area where Warrington residents can drop in to discuss any issues that may be affecting their health and wellbeing. NHS and non-clinical services will be delivered on the first floor, with several consultation and clinical rooms for use, while the second floor will predominantly be for staff use.

At the Living Well Hub, there will be a particular emphasis on providing women’s health services and services for children, families and older people.

Maternity (pre and post natal), dementia, mental health, weight management, cardiac rehab and health visitor clinics are among the services being provided, with support from third party partners including Macmillan, Warrington Disability Partnership, LiveWire, Home Start, and other voluntary organisations offering a mix of booked appointments and drop-in support during the week.

The Living Well Hub is specifically aimed at addressing health inequalities in Warrington, where there is a 10-year difference in life expectancy between the most and least deprived members of the community.

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It is part of the borough-wide Living Well programme, which aims to connect people, communities and services to enable residents to live healthy, fulfilling lives and take greater control over their own health, wellbeing and resilience.

Previously speaking at the ribbon cutting ceremony held for the hub, Professor Colin Scales, CEO of Bridgewater Community Healthcare, said: “This is a really important day for the town and it is a proud moment for us within health and social care.

“It has taken a huge amount of effort to reach this point of opening and the facility is something that the town is really in need of.

“There are not many facilities that I am aware of like this in the country, so I think this is a real moment for the town.

“It is a huge achievement and I really think we have good reason to be excited, I have genuine optimism.”

The hub has initial opening hours of 9am to 5pm weekdays, and until 8pm on Mondays and Wednesdays.

For more information about the services on offer, visit warrington.gov.uk/living-well-hub

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