The local Clinical Commissioning Group, that supports NHS services in Devon, has submitted a planning application for a new Super Health Hub on the Colin Campbell Court Car Park. This is the next step in bringing health to the high street.

Since Luke was elected in 2017, he has been calling for a Super Health Hub in the City Centre to bring together GPs, primary care, dentistry and social care in a single building able to be accessed easily by local residents.

Luke said:

“For four years I’ve been campaigning for a Super Health Hub. I’ve made the case for this building to the City Council who adopted the idea and in turn joined with the local NHS to get behind this project. We are now motoring ahead with a planning application. This building will create a new health hub with a range of services in the city centre hopefully removing the need for many people to travel to Derriford for non-urgent care.

 

Bringing health to the high street is part of a vision to give a new lease of life to our city centre. Covid, online shopping and changing patterns of behaviour mean we will need to repurpose much of our expansive city centre away from being just purely retail – and bringing health to the high street is a superb example of what can be done with innovative thinking.

 

I want the Super Health Hub to be the first building in a new health village in the city centre with other services moved into the city centre making them easier for people to access.”

Lobbying for a super health hub.

The campaign for the Super Health Hub has been years in the making. Here’s a selection of Luke’s efforts to support it:

In November 2019, Luke joined forces with Cllr Mark Lowry and Cllr Kate Taylor to announce £13m in funding for a new super health hub…

Before this, Luke regularly campaigned for the government to support the project…

In a question to the Health Secretary in January 2019, Luke said:

Plymouth is pioneering health and wellbeing hubs—a new type of NHS facility. I am most excited about the new one in Plymouth city centre, which will include directly employed GPs and mental health, sexual health and dentistry services. We have submitted a funding application to the Minister. When will he be able to fund and support that pioneering project, a new type of NHS facility delivering in some of our poorest communities?

You can read another of Luke’s campaign speeches for the Health Hub here.