17 February 2009
Minerva: A new concept in healthcare
Please note: Contact the Patient Advice & Liaison
Service (PALS) for information and advice about services arranged
and provided by NHS Central Lancashire, including access to the
Minerva Centre. Freephone 0800 032 24 24 or
e-mail PALS@centrallancashire.nhs.uk
The ground-breaking Minerva Health Centre is set to open its
doors, offering a state-of-the-art facility for treating long-term
conditions at the heart of the community.
Originally envisaged as a diabetes centre, the vision quickly
grew to include facilities for treating other long-term conditions,
with a partnership between Preston North End, the Northwest
Regional Development Agency (NWDA) and the NHS.
The first facility of its kind in the country, the Minerva
Health Centre covers more than 2,000sq m and is located on two
floors in Preston North End’s new Invincibles Pavilion. It will
bring health services and clinics together which have historically
been located across Preston, in a single purpose built facility
that puts the patients at the centre of care.
Services to be offered to people by clinicians at the Minerva
Centre will include retinal screening, therapy, phlebotomy services
(taking blood), diabetes care, nutritional advice, a chronic
fatigue service, rheumatology, respiratory care, heart care,
physiotherapy/occupational therapy and treatment reviews.
On the ground floor there will also be a Lifestyle Centre and
café, which will be open to all the community, not just
patients.
Peter Kenyon, chairman of NHS Central Lancashire, said: “NHS
Central Lancashire is at the forefront of modern healthcare,
bringing health services, clinics and partnerships that have been
historically located across Preston together under one roof.
“The Minerva Health Centre, a flagship facility for Preston and
the first of its kind in the UK, sets the precedent for meeting the
needs of patients with long-term conditions providing both high
quality and relevant services which are accessible locally.
“The development of the centre has been based on a great
partnership between NHS Central Lancashire, the NWDA and Preston
North End who also recognise the need to bring healthcare where it
is most needed into the community.”
It is envisaged that once operational, 800 patients per week will
attend the centre and that approximately 130 staff will work out of
the Minerva Health Centre.
There will also be a Lifestyle Centre within Minerva, which will
be a focal point for people to find out more about the steps they
can take to improve their health from other agencies including Age
Concern, Diabetes UK and Preston Carers Centre. A range of advice
from access to leaflets and computers with electronic information,
to one-to-one chats about healthcare will be available.
Joe Rafferty, NHS Central Lancashire chief executive, said: “The
Minerva Health Centre will affect people’s lives in many different
ways, from making sure people with long-term illnesses get the
treatment they need on a regular basis at an easily-accessible
venue, to helping to prevent further ill health in the future by
providing information and advice with the help of our partners.
“Modern healthcare is about more than just treating people once
they become ill; it’s about equipping people with the knowledge and
support they need to help safeguard their health for years to
come.
“The Minerva Health Centre gives us a great opportunity to do
this – and we’re proud that NHS Central Lancashire is leading the
way in making it happen.”
The Minerva Health Centre also benefits from an additional third
of the building funded by a grant from the North West Regional
Development Agency. This third of the building is to be used to
improve the quality of life of people through partners such as the
Stop Smoking Service, Lancashire Drug & Alcohol Action Team
(LDAAT), Lancashire Constabulary and the Condition Management
Programme.
Steven Broomhead, NWDA Chief Executive, said: “Creating better
levels of health is crucial to improving quality of life in the
Northwest, one of the NWDA’s key priorities.
“Through creating a state-of-the-art facility to deliver a wide
range of vital health services, this centre will provide a valuable
service to the local community and the NWDA is pleased to provide
its support.”
ENDS
Background information
• The Minerva Health Centre will provide accommodation for
a range of community teams that will house a range of services that
provide ongoing treatment and care to people with long-term
conditions who require regular reviews and assessment.
• All the clinical services have been redesigned to provide
a multidisciplinary base from which a more seamless and holistic
service can be provided. It will also provide an opportunity to
develop a person-centred model of care that is more accessible to
patients and carers. Key elements will include:
o A centralised referral point. In the current system
referrals are sent to several diabetes specialist services. Having
a central point will result in improved co-ordination of services
and better allocation of referrals to the appropriate health care
professional;
o Out-of-hours services to include evening clinics. This will
improve the accessibility of clinics;
o Expansion of structured education provision.
• The facility will house multi-agency health, social care
and welfare consortium to support local people with long-term
conditions, particularly those who are out of work and claiming
incapacity benefit due to issues related to their ill health and
long-term conditions.
• The accommodation includes consultation rooms, diabetes
nurses’ rooms, a dietetic room, clinical assessment rooms, eye
screening, podiatry, a lifestyle centre and offices for staff
including the heart failure team, COPD team, chronic fatigue
service, diabetes team manager and dietician staff.
Groups (staff and patients) meeting Princess Anne at the Minerva
Health Centre opening will include:
• Preston Carers - Preston Carers Centre began running as
an independent registered charity in January 2006. They are the
only organisation in Preston dedicated to supporting Carers in
Preston. NHS Central Lancashire has established strong links with
Preston Carers Centre and share information through a number of
outlets. An example of some of the shared areas of work is with the
Community Engagement Team who provides a support officer and
organise joint events and for 2009 plans are in place to continue
the open health surgeries on a quarterly basis.
• Diabetes Service – The planned and emergency hospitalised
admission rates for people with diabetes (type 1 and 2 combined)
are twice as high in the most deprived Preston wards (including
Deepdale) when compared with the most prosperous wards. As the
Minerva Health Centre is located in the centre of Preston’s
deprived wards, this provides an opportunity to deliver diabetes
services which are accessible to this disadvantaged community. In
particular drop-in sessions, evening clinics, joint working clinics
and diabetes structured education for people from South Asian
backgrounds are being scheduled.
• Rheumatology Service – Patients, rightly, want to be
treated promptly by the most appropriate person, to be involved in
decision-making and to rely on and trust their team. Minerva will
help to achieve this with a service that will be integrated and
involve significant changes to the way staff and teams currently
coordinate services having a multidisciplinary focus.
• Falls Prevention Service - The Community Falls service is
a new multidisciplinary specialist service for older people who
have fallen or are at risk of falling. The Community Falls team
will assess individuals either within their own residential
accommodation or at an allocated clinic setting. A care plan is
collaboratively agreed with the individual for intervention and
management of further falls. The service will be responsible for
education, raising awareness and prevention of falls and fractures
in Central Lancashire and will develop referral pathways across
primary and secondary care, housing, social care, voluntary and
private sector.
• Lifestyle Centre - The following teams will be based in
the Lifestyle Centre: Age Concern Preston and South Ribble, Central
Lancashire CFS/ME Support Group, Breathe Easy (a local support
group for people with lung disease, their families and carers),
Diabetes UK,
• Art competition winner - Ayeesha Patel, 13, of Our Lady's
Catholic High School, Fulwood, Preston, will present Princess Anne
with a copy of a picture that she painted which will be going in
the reception area of Minerva. Schoolchildren were challenged to
produce artwork with a ‘healthy lifestyle’ theme to tie in with the
National Healthy Schools Programme and other aspects of their
curriculum.
Ends
Editors’ Note
NHS Central Lancashire is the primary care trust for Preston,
Chorley and South Ribble and west Lancashire. It receives a budget
from the Department of Health to plan and pay for local NHS
services. This includes paying GPs and dentists, commissioning
hospital and mental health services and managing public health
campaigns. It does not manage local NHS hospitals, which are
independent trusts, but does pay for many of the services they
offer.
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Department on 01772 678067.