Buildings4Life research in Rochdale

Buildings4Life, a partnership between The Big Life group of social businesses and charities and John Laing PLC, have been commissioned by Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale PCT and the Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust to carry out a piece of research to identify the potential for community, public and third sector organisations in Rochdale to work together to develop Rochdale Infirmary.

During the next few months Buidlings4Life will be meeting with a range of community and third sector organisations including housing associations, local authorities, social enterprises and organisations working in regeneration in Rochdale to identify possible ways of working in partnership. The findings will then be presented to the board of Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale PCT and the Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.

This piece of research is being carried out following the changes to services running from Rochdale Infirmary, as outlined in Healthy Futures and Making it Better. This piece of work builds on the decisions made in Healthy Futures and Making it Better and does not revisit any of the decisions already made.

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Questions & Answers

Why is this piece of work being carried out? Healthy Futures and Making it Better will release space on the Rochdale infirmary site as some services are relocated. The aim of this research is to explore the opportunity to make best use of this space for the benefit of the Rochdale community.

Who are Buildings4Life? Buildings4Life is a partnership between The Big Life group of social businesses and charities and John Laing plc, a leading sponsor of public sector infrastructure assets. The Big Life group works with communities to deliver services where they are needed most, and provides support and opportunities to help people change their lives. Big Life group manages a number of health and community centres across Greater Manchester including the Kath Locke Primary Care Centre in Moss Side, Zion Community Resource Centre in Hulme, Stockport Well Being Centre, Partington Healthy Living centre and the Energise and Willow Tree Centres in Salford.

What will happen at the end of this process? The study will present its findings and recommendations to the board of Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale PCT and the Pennine Acute Hospitals Trust about the way it thinks different sectors could potentially work together to deliver services from the Rochdale Infirmary site. The two organisations will then consider if any further work is done on the project. This is simply an initial review, and no decisions have been made in relation to any further potential steps.

Will this mean more services will be delivered from Rochdale Infirmary? The study will identify the opportunities for organisations to work together to deliver services. Some of these may be new services. This is not about acute health services; it is about the services which could potentially complement those to be provided from the Infirmary under the Healthy Futures/Making It Better decisions.

Who are Buildings4Life talking to for this research? A range of community and third sector organisations in and around Rochdale; including housing associations, local authorities, social enterprises and organisations working in regeneration.

Will Buildings4Life be consulting with the community about the services they would like to see delivered from the Hospital?
No. Making it Better and Healthy Futures carried out consultation with communities regarding hospital and community health services. This piece of research is about identifying additional services which the public, community and third sectors could and might want to deliver from the site if this was an option. It will not revisit any of the decisions made in Healthy Futures and Making it Better.

Who has asked Buildings4Life to carry out this work? Pennine Acute Hospitals Trust and Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale PCT commissioned Buidlings4Life to carry out this piece of work.

Why were Buildings4Life chosen to carry out this piece of work?
Buildings 4 Life were asked to carry out the piece of work by Pennine Acute Hospitals Trust and Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale PCT. Buildings4life is a collaboration between John Laing PLC who have experience of developing public sector buildings and The Big Life group which manages primary care centres and has worked with communities to deliver a range of services and build community involvement in centres providing health and social care.

What’s in it for John Laing? John Laing is committed to building long-term partnerships with the public sector and supporting the development of public sector services. Projects such as these give John Laing the opportunity to explore new and innovative ways in working, which supports its interest in social enterprise.

Could this mean that someone else (other than the Pennine Acute Hospitals Trust) could own the site?
Not as a result of this study. No proposal will be made in relation to the ownership of the site. The study will examine a series of potential partnering models for the Trust to consider in relation to joint opportunities for community and social enterprise activities within the site.

What happens next? The research will be presented to the boards of Pennine Acute Hospitals Trust and Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Primary Care Trust. We expect this to happen late in 2008 or early 2009. They will then decide what, if any, further work is indicated.

Will there be a formal proposal submitted to Rochdale Infirmary following the research?
Buildings4Life will provide Pennine Acute Health Trust and Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Primary Care Trust with the findings of the research.

Is this research project being funded by the tax payer?
John Laing and Big Life are supporting this study through resource and funding. There is no cost to the NHS.

Should the study be adopted by the Trust, does that mean that the Big Life Group or John Laing will automatically be awarded further work?
No. The report’s findings will include and overview of the scope for potential additional activities, including community activities, and partnering options for the Trust to consider. Should the Trust decide to pursue any further investigations or work it is will do so at its discretion and in accordance with standard procurement practice. If, in the future, any specific proposals are to be developed or considered this will necessitate a full business case and liaison with the appropriate stakeholders.

Is this project part of Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale PCT’s Speak Up for Health campaign or the regional Healthier Horizons consultation? No. This project is independent to any other campaign.

Will the findings of the study be published? It is not intended to make the findings confidential. However, publication will be the responsibility of the Trust.