On Friday 18th October, Dame Rebecca Harris MP paid a visit to the Central Canvey Primary Care Centre to learn more about the facilities and the vital healthcare services being delivered to the local community.

The health centre is one of three buildings developed and managed by Prydium Estates Partnership, a Local Improvement Finance Trust working to support the development and maintenance of community-based primary health and social care premises across south-east Essex.

The Primary Care Centre opened in 2009 to provide modern, flexible facilities for the local community. The centre is home to three GP surgery teams, plus X-ray, audiology, physiotherapy, podiatry, ultrasound, leg ulcer and dermatology services. The building is right at the centre of Canvey, putting it within 30 minutes by public transport for anyone living on the Island.

During her visit, Dame Rebecca visited the state-of-the-art X-ray machine and two accessible changing areas on the ground floor of the building. She learnt how the centre has been developed into a health and care hub for all Canvey residents, offering more local services to improve people’s health outcomes, especially older people.

Commenting on her visit, Dame Rebecca said: “I recently visited Canvey Primary Care Centre to hear about how they are developing the site to offer even more services to patients far closer to home. I was very impressed by the new facilities and I was incredibly pleased the new X-Ray machine is seeing hundreds of patients and there are now two busy surgeries for blood testing.”

The LIFT Programme has been instrumental in delivering over 350 new primary and community health and social care buildings across England. LIFT companies are public-private partnerships where the Government holds a 40% stake through Community Health Partnerships (CHP), ensuring that health and social care facilities are equipped to meet modern standards and local needs.