Lisburn's new £40million health centre is ready to welcome patients

Based at the site of the Lagan Valley Hospital, the £40million centre is bright, modern, and airy, and will bring together seven GP practices, as well as services from across Lisburn, including mental health, podiatry, dental, physiotherapy, and children’s services.

The new building is quite the contrast to the current health centre on Linenhall Street, which opened in 1977. With plenty of space and state-of-the-art facilities, the centre has been future proofed to ensure the care of patients in the city for many years to come.

Lisburn’s seven GP practices will be transferring to the new centre from Monday February 20 and will be welcoming the first patients next week.

The South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust's Chief Executive Roisin Coulter said: "Working in close partnership with our primary care colleagues, we are delighted to be able to open this Centre which will provide such a wide range of vital services for the local community under one roof. "As the PCCC is right beside Lagan Valley Hospital, our patients and service users will be able to easily access diagnostic services and receive treatment all on the one site. Our staff will also be able to benefit from delivering care in a modern, bright environment."

Naomi Dunbar, Assistant Director Strategic & Capital Development at the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust praised everyone involved in bringing the development to fruition. “It is an amazing facility,” she said. “It is a one-stop facility for people close to their home.”

Addressing concerns that had been raised about access and egress at the hospital site, she gave assurances that audits would be carried out once the centre was fully operational, but that traffic management on the site had been changed to ensure smooth access for staff, patients, visitors, and ambulances.Peter May, Permanent Secretary at the Department of Health, said: "This new, community-focused centre will make a real difference to the lives of people in Lisburn and surrounding areas by providing a high quality health facility with fit for purpose accommodation for both patients and staff alike. "With a vast number of services all based on the one site, this integrated model of primary and secondary care should lead to an improved experience and, more importantly, better outcomes for patients."

A GP spokesperson, representing the views of the local GP practices within Lisburn Health Centre added: "We welcome the opportunity to move into the new building on the Lagan Valley Hospital site and look forward to providing primary care services to our patients from these greatly improved premises."There will be over 400 car parking spaces at the PCCC for patients and visitors. The car park will be open Monday-Friday 8am-8pm and Saturday 8am-6pm.A free shuttle bus service will operate to and from Lisburn Health Centre and Lisburn PCCC for the first two weeks commencing on February 20. The shuttle bus times are: 8.15am to 12.15pm and 13.45pm to 16.30pm.