Green light given for multimillion-pound health and care facility in Trowbridge
Work to construct a state-of-the-art health and care facility in Trowbridge is due to begin shortly after the multimillion-pound project was given the green light by Wiltshire Council.
The £16 million Trowbridge Integrated Care Centre will be built on land beside the town’s current community hospital and, once fully open, will become the new home for many of the services based there.
It is hoped that building work on the new integrated care centre, which is being supported financially by the Wiltshire, Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire Integrated Care Board, NHS Property Services and Wiltshire Council, will begin in the coming weeks, with the opening expected in Autumn 2025.
Caroline Holmes, Interim Director of Place – Wiltshire, Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire Integrated Care Board, said: “We are delighted to have the go-ahead for this new integrated care centre, which will bring real benefits to the people of Trowbridge and the surrounding areas.
“Having services based in the community, in locations such as this new state-of-the-art centre, will not only put care closer to patients’ home, but also support different health and care teams to work closer together, which should result in a much smoother, more joined-up experience of the NHS for local people.
“We already know from our work in delivering the new Devizes Health Centre that buildings such as these make an enormous difference to the lives of local people, and we hope the residents of Trowbridge are just as excited as we are for this exciting addition to their community.”
The building itself will follow in the footsteps of its sister site in Devizes, and will employ the latest green technology, such as solar panels and heat pumps, in order to be fully self-sufficient and net zero carbon.
Moving services from the current Trowbridge Community Hospital to the new site will be carried out in phases as part of a planned relocation process once the new building is completed towards the end of 2025.
Wiltshire Council’s £3 million contribution to the scheme derives from the Wiltshire Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), which local authorities can impose on new developments to help fund infrastructure and to support growth.
Cllr Ian Blair-Pilling, Wiltshire Council Cabinet Member for Public Health, said: “This is an excellent example of how the CIL can work for the good of local people.
“We are using the monies obtained from developments to invest directly in key services for our communities, and this will rejuvenate health facilities in the town and benefit Trowbridge residents for years to come.”