It's Snot Going To Happen ....

By which I mean the new health centre in Ashton.

Remember the 'Armed Forces Hub' which was going to be housed in Wigan Market Hall.



wigantoday.net/armed-forces-hub-set-for-market-hall

Well it didn't happen, so folk started moaning about it

wigantoday.net/complaint-over-delays-to-armed-forces-hub

And Council said, there's nowt worry about, cos it's going to happen, even though folk were saying that it wasn't going to happen, because it wasn't happening.

wigantoday.net/council-hits-back-in-forces-hub-row

Well it's not going to happen in Wigan Market Hall after all and a little bird has told me that the reason is that there are problems with the Wigan Market Hall building and that is what has caused the delay and Council have now decided to build it in a stupid location, where folk can't park and can't be dropped off and picked up safely.

wigan.gov.uk/Anticipated-armed-forces-hub-to-open-sometime-this-century

Well it's happening again, because they are not going to build a new health facility on the site of the old Ashton Town Hall ...



wigantoday.net/new-wigan-medical-centre-delayed-by-months

Mark my words, it is not going to happen

I too have noticed that if the council want it doing, it just gets done, like the houses at Bryn and the roundabout at Marus Bridge and if the council Don't want it, theres lots of pontification,meetings and talks but nowt gets done, Like the Sir Bob highway,

WHERE are the patients going to park their vehicles .....

Thats the 64.000 dollar question for anywhere you want to go today, There is a very simple answer to it,

Make parking a problem of the past,
Go where you want and not worry about, parking fee's, your car getting scratched by others,is there room for me, is my car safe, will there be queues, will the weather cause me to get stuck, have i enough petrol,

all these concerns can easily be solved instantly,
Plus your health will improve, your social live will improve and you'll help to calm your blood pressure and other motorists,



TAKE THE BUS,,,

Just the same at Orrell clinic will never happen you are correct.

Yes Orrell, that one was going to be built on the site of the old nursing home wasn't it, they told the local people, the local good people of Orrell ....

"trust us we are your council"

"we will look after you and build you a brand new health centre"

And 'look' they said it with a smile on their face .....

Anyone remember Joe Horrocks's shop, on Church Street he sold everything and all the old people used to go there and Joe looked after them, he got them anything they wanted.

So the old people in Orrell, trusted the council to build them a new health centre on the site of the old home, because old people are getting older all the time and they need medical care by way of a nice new health facility ....

But they built houses on it instead, so it was sod the people, because we wanted the money from the builders instead

The Ashton clinic project is being financed through a PFI deal. All new PFI arrangements are under greater scrutiny and are now taking longer to complete.
Within the last few days the company building the clinic has issued a news bulletin showing that the job is progressing.
An extract from the bulletin is here,


28 February 2018

Eric Wright Group Promotes Christine Winstanley to Health and Care MD


Amongst the most recent developments delivered by Eric Wright Health and Care under Christine’s leadership will be the transformation of Ashton Town Hall in Ashton in Makerfield into a GP surgery and NHS community health facility. The company also purchased a surplus asset from a local NHS Trust and converted it into a 28-bed residential care home, complete with specialist dementia provision. This has been so successful that this year will see the unit expanded to accommodate a further 24 beds.

Christine explains: “We’ve already built excellent working partnerships across Lancashire and Greater Manchester and, in addition to strengthening those links, my focus as managing director will be to extend our reach across the north, leveraging those relationships and developing in Cheshire, Merseyside and Cumbria.

“We understand the complexities surrounding procurement, commissioning and estates management and have developed a suite of services to help healthcare organisations better manage their assets, release capital and facilitate primary and community care projects.”

I knew Joe, his brother Tommy was a family friend and a work colleague of my dad at Coop's

Tomplum it is ok to say catch a bus. The bus companies are cutting back on routes and there are less and less of them.The council will have thought about parking and once the Market stalls are removed they will make that side of the ground pay and display

A lot of sick people can't use buses, because they are poorly sick, so they can't catch bus to the health centre and like PeterP says, there are a lot less bus services now.

I've been in that situation were i was too unwell to catch a bus to get to my doctors, I was also too unwell to drive, Luckily I got a friend to drop me off and collect me later,
Yes I know, not everyone has friends who can be there 24/7 and that is were tommy too jags comes in, give him a ring and he'll take you for a fare price,but on the other hand many people are driving 4x4 cars displaying a blue badge because they have dandruff, And before you jump down my throat, I know some are genuinely ill and need a disable transport, and I enversize the word SOME,

Tom

As regards Bloo Badge Abuse, there will certainly be no jumping down throats from me, because I have seen it happening for years now and it as not got any better, folk who have nothing wrong with them using a bloo badge

We have a blue badge and like my driving licence no one who has the authority as ever asked to see it. If they are checked on a regular basis then those who are frauds would be caught and I hope prosecutedIt only takes one autherised person to go onto any supermarket or street were blue badges are being used for a day and check that the person who should be using the badge is entitled to use it.The people who can ask to see the badge are Police Officers Traffic Wardens Parking Attendants Or Civil Enforcement Officers

Regarding the Eric Wrong press release quote above, I've only one thing to say .... and it rhymes with locks.

The article linked to in TTS's main post at the top is effectively a PR press release.
For those struggling with the WiganToday (non-existent) search facility here's a more truthful follow-up article which tells it like it really is ....

The Real Story

I think it is a really silly place to put an health centre, especially a busy one and if you look at the amount of traffic which goes in and out of an health centre everyday, which is literally hundreds of vehicles a day, to put that on to an already congested Bryn Street and Ashton Town Centre, is very, very, very silly thing too doo ....

Could they have not found somewhere else in the Ashton Area to put the health centre, somewhere where the traffic flow and parking is a lot better

Behind where the Ashton Clinic is now off Wigan Road, there is a football field and access to it via several roads, so why don't they build the new Health Centre on there, then there would be access to it from Wigan Road via Queens Road, access from Ashton Town Centre via Armoury Bank and access from Bolton Road via Albert Street

TTS

Current government thinking is that for this type of project a redundant public sector building, if available, must be used.
Unfortunately the late PCT management dragged it's collective feet when the Eavesway site came onto the market. There was no mandate then about using redundant public sector buildings as a priority.

TTS wrote ....
"Could they have not found somewhere else in the Ashton Area to put the health centre, somewhere where the traffic flow and parking is a lot better"

Of course there are !
Although the one you suggest isn't a good choice (even if the council are planning to pull the old clinic down, tear up the covenant on King George's playing fields, and build houses.

What about for example .... the land at the back of the corner of Bryn Road/Bolton Road, which they're planning to cover in a 50% expansion of the industrial estate ?
A unique and 'progressive' plan to relieve the traffic through Ashton is that.
They were after all planning to shove all the secondary schools out that way weren't they.

gaffer .... oh didn't you know - the planning permission for the elf (everyone who uses it will have to be small to squeez into it)centre had absolutely nothing to do with WMBC ?
You see they weren't the owners of the building so could do nothing.
Unbelievable but true ballcocks spouted at the tim.

John59

"the land at the back of the corner of Bryn Road/Bolton Road"

Yes, but what about access for people whoo don't have a car, the nearest main bus service is the 320 and a couple of minor services, ideally you want somewhere which is handy for the 320 and 600 bus services, which just happens to be at the crossroads of the A58 and A49 otherwise known as Ashton-in-Makerfeild Town Centre, hence my sooperb wheeze of a suggestion, of building the new health centre on on that football field and present clinic site

John59

The town hall was a public asset under the guardianship of Wigan Council.
They sold it to the highest of six bidders, Eric Wright Partnerships Ltd., for £266,000.
Whatever you think of the site or better alternatives is of no consequence because the clinic will be built there.
In practice the vast majority of patients who will eventually use it will be well satisfied with the service it will provide and consider any downsides re the location as trivial.

gaffer

Have yoo any idea of the misery caused and by misery I mean MISERY, because you can't find a parking space at the infirmary (both of them) or Boston House, Linacre Centre etc etc

It causes stress and it should be addressed and new facilities should be built with adisquat parking and bus services.

I don't know if you know, but folk who have treatment in hospitals are usually poorly sick and they need a parking space ...........

TTS they build these new clinics or extend the hospital and as you say there is never enough parking at any of themThe worse one local for parking is Wrightington hospital which is miles from anywhere and has one road going past it which has yellow lines along it

PeterP

Aye at one time if you dropped someone off at Wrightington Hospital, they held you prisoner there until you paid the ransom to get out, you had to go inside and pay at the machine to get out, otherwise the barrier wouldn't lift and let you out ...

It is not like that now.

TTS

The executives who have to make decisions regarding the building of new facilities are bound by financial constraints. Their priority lies with the health care needs of the people they are there to serve.
Peter P gives a good example of difficult parking and public transport access to Wrightington hospital. The bus service is non existent. The question you should be asking is how do we take bus services to the health centres and who should pay for it.
The local council should adopt a more inclusive stance when it comes to parking. Was it really necessary to make Spencer Road a residents only parking area when so few residents need it. It was previously used by hospital staff as a car parking area. Perhaps the Council should have a new category of parking permit for hospital staff that permits them to park on some of the neighbouring streets. The same could apply on Park Road for the Linacre centre staff.

There is lots of room on the Three sisters industrial site.