A new health centre could soon be built in an inner city Salford district thanks to backing from a millionaire businessman.
Telecoms mogul Neil McArthur has been pushing for five years for a new clinic for Irlam and Cadishead .
He has vowed to build a £5m health centre by raising the cash from businesses and charities - and if necessary, stump up the cash himself - after NHS bosses agreed that the area definitely needs a new health facility.
The £5m centre, earmarked for land at Princess Park, Irlam, could be built within two to three years.
In recent years hundreds of millions of pounds have been invested in inner-city areas of Salford, however Irlam and Cadishead have missed out.
Business guru Mr McArthur, who has recently handed over a six-figure cheque to help local rugby team get a new ground, said: “This project goes back about five years when we started looking at health statistics for Irlam and Cadishead and we found that they were not particularly good reading.
“We started looking at the facilities for health in the area and found we have eight doctors - four are quite well provisioned and offer extended services with nursing, and four are not. Irlam and Cadishead is not an easy place to get to on the bus, so we have ended up with a deteriorating health position.”
Inspired by the provision of a health centre in Chesterfield, financed by a private company, Mr McArthur’s charity, the Hamilton Davies Trust, started looking at delivering one for Irlam and Cadishead.
“We didn’t get much traction with it for a number of years and then last year the Clinical Commissioning Group said we really need Gateway type facilities in Irlam. Once they had picked up on it that made dialogue with the council easier.
“The CCG has a lot of demands on their capital so we have under written it. We will raise the funds in our regeneration business - NC Developments - and deliver the project.
“So that means all the planning can go forward. We need to examine whether there is scope for other facilities, like a library, and social services, similar to Gateway centres in Eccles and Swinton. It could easily be done in three years.”
Mr McArthur’s charity, set up in 2004 with his wife, Anne, has provided 400 grants to local groups and sports organisations and invested £6m of funds into the area.
Karen Proctor, director of commissioning at NHS Salford Clinical Commissioning Group, said: “I can confirm that – as part of our estates strategy to ensure adequate healthcare services in each Salford neighbourhood – NHS Salford Clinical Commissioning Group is in talks with the Hamilton Davies Trust charity with a view to the location of a new health centre in a suitable location in the Irlam district.
“If these discussions are successful, we anticipate a new build being completed within the next two to three years to cater for the Irlam and Cadishead community.”
