Empty shopping centre units converted into Halton Health Hub thanks to Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Mayor’s Town Centre Fund

• Halton Health Hub becomes one of the first of its kind in the UK

• NHS eye and hearing services available along with dietetics

• Flu and Covid jabs with extended GP access

The Halton Health Hub was developed in partnership with Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation with over £500,000 in funding from the Trust, £350,000 from the Town Centre Fund and additional paediatric play equipment funded by £6,000 in donations from Halton Borough Council and One Halton.

The hub offers three clinical services: dietetics, orthoptics and audiology and aims to offer 72 appointments each week from five consultation rooms and two diagnostic imaging rooms.

Halton Borough Council are now also offering a flu and covid vaccine clinic and GPs have established an acute respiratory hub service three days per week, with GP extended access due to commence in February. 

Further funding of £1.3m from NHS England’s Community Diagnostic Centre programme has been secured by the Trust to offer additional services, including sleep studies, phlebotomy and ultrasound later in the year. 

Lucy Gardner, Director of Strategy and Partnerships at Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals, said:

“We are delighted to be able to open Halton Health Hub in Runcorn Shopping City.  We are very grateful to our partners, in particular Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and Halton Borough Council, without whom this would not have been possible.  

“It is important to be able to provide more healthcare within the community, supporting residents to be able to access care more easily and more quickly.  Our health hub in Runcorn Shopping City is one of the first of its kind in the country.  It will not only enable us to provide more appointments in the heart of the community but also support Runcorn Shopping City, a valued community asset, to thrive, bringing healthcare and retail together.” 

“Being in an accessible place means that people will come to us much earlier rather than waiting until they are at crisis point. The shopping centre is the heart of the community, where people come to do their shopping, so when they need help we are literally on their doorstep."