THANK you for your very informative article about the Altrincham Health and Wellbeing Centre (AHWC) which provided at least some of the details of this unfortunate debacle.

However, there are still a number of aspects that I think warrant further explanation.

The CCG website indicates that its role is to deliver high-quality care services, but makes no mention of any involvement in property services.

So, firstly, why didn’t the CCG get NHS Property Services to manage the acquisition of the building, or at least review the contracts before they were signed?

Secondly, a maintenance fee of £2.3 million per year seems extortionately high.

This is roughly equivalent to paying the initial construction cost of the centre every 10 years, which is clearly ridiculous.

It is also not clear if this maintenance fee includes the ground rent or not, which bring me to the next point.

Thirdly, why didn’t the NHS buy the freehold?

Neither City Branch nor Canada Life would have purchased the freehold if there was not significant profit in it for them.

Surely, it would be better in the long term if this profit was kept within the NHS.

Two of the strategic aims of the CCG are ‘to improve the care provided and the healthcare experience of individuals’; and ‘to lower per capita costs of providing this’.

Unfortunately, due to at best, the naivety of the CCG, the financial losses arising from the Altrincham Health and Wellbeing Centre will ultimately impact on the quality of care they can provide and/or the cost per capita, i.e. you and me.

Peter Spence

Braemar Drive

Sale