Health, library and social care facilities - Ladies Walk Centre, Dudley

"We were delighted with the rapid progress of this important and highly imaginative scheme."

The Requirement

The Ladies Walk Centre has been developed to provide the local community in Sedgley with a "one stop shop" for a wide range of health and social services, including:

• Routine community health services
• A public library
• A social work adult care assessment team
• Home care services
• Out-patient facilities for the local hospital trust
• An out-of-hours GP service

The centre is the result of a pioneering partnership between four organisations – Dudley Priority Health, Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council, Norwich Union Public Private Partnership and Yorkon.

It is the first joint health and social services PFI project and the first PFI project to be built using modular construction.

The Solution

72 steel-framed modules were manufactured off-site in York and delivered to Ladies Walk where they were craned into position in two stages in line with the phased development of the site. This minimised disruption to service provision from the existing clinic and to local residents, and reduced the programme time by around 40 per cent.

One of the key factors in the choice of the PFI and construction team was the innovative design of the building. The need to move away from the traditional institutional design of health centres and social services accommodation was given as part of the architectural brief.

Designed by Yorkon, the two-storey building incorporates the latest ideas for integrated mental health facilities from the US and Europe. The Ladies Walk Centre has been designed around a central "street" to create a warm and welcoming environment. Internally there is a full height glazed entrance and a glazed roof to maximise the penetration of natural light.

Comments from the Clients

Julie Gunning, Head of Service Planning, Dudley Priority Health NHS Trust:

"The Sedgley scheme has bridged the gap between health and social care. The building itself has given staff from each agency the unique opportunity to work more closely on the provision of integrated packages of care. The result is significantly improved services for local people."

Steve Waltho, Social Services Lead Member, Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council:

"We were delighted with the rapid progress of this important and highly imaginative scheme."

Awards

The Ladies Walk Centre won the award for Most Innovative PFI Project under £10m at the 2001 Public Private Finance Awards.