PLANS are being developed for a brand new health centre in Wirral in one of its most deprived areas. The new centre is part of plans by a new network of GP practices to improve life in Birkenhead’s north end.

Three GP practices – Paxton Medical Group, Heatherlands Medical Centre, and Prenton & Woodchurch Medical Centre – in Wirral across Birkenhead, Prenton, and the Beechwood and Woodchurch estates are forming a primary care network (PCN) which helps them work together to provide more services in their area and point people to the right help. One benefit of this is people will soon be able to see a GP in the evening and on Saturdays more easily as more appointments become available.

The new network will also be working with local schools, charities and other third-party organisations, as well as Wirral Council’s public health team to tackle long term health issues in an area that contains affluent neighbourhoods alongside some of the poorest estates in the country. The doctors who are leading the network said people will no longer need to travel to hospitals on the other side of town to get help.

With a goal to create a healthier neighbourhood, the network faces a significant challenge with higher rates of a number of health issues from obesity and low exercise levels to smoking with a lower life expectancy. According to Census 2021 data published in a Wirral Council map, the percentage of people saying their health was “very bad” is between two to three times higher on the Beechwood and north end of Birkenhead compared to their neighbours just up the hill on Noctorum Ridge.

At the same time, people are also less likely to approach or access health services including being less likely to do a smear test or provide a bowel cancer sample.

Asked how the network might benefit patients, Dr Mark Fraser, who is its joint clinical director with Dr David Baker, said: “There will be more appointments with doctors. Simple when that is what most people want with their GP.”

He said: “We will have more resources. Some people do not need to see a GP. If you have anxiety because of your social deprivation, a GP won’t be the best person to fix that but a social worker can help you access your full list of benefits. That would be the right person to see.”

This will free up appointments until 8pm as well as on Saturdays, services that are currently offered further away in places like St Catherine’s Hospital, but will now be offered closer to home.

Dr Fraser said: “You might not think the distance from the Beechwood to St Catherine’s is too far but for some of our patients it is. We know some patients would rather just not engage than travel but if you can bring services closer to their doorstep as much as possible, there will be better outcomes.”

The network is also in pre-planning discussions with Wirral Council over plans for a new community health hub in the heart of the Beechwood Estate though this is a few years off. Linking centres like these across Birkenhead, Dr Fraser said, would help better connect patients with the right help available in their community.

He said this new centre will offer space for community groups to help bring people together, adding: “If you start to build a relationship with other organisations and bring them into the health centre, you are starting to have something different.” Following the loss of community centres, churches, and pubs in some areas, he said social isolation is increasing.

Dr Fraser said: “How can you rebuild the community when the community can’t come together? With many communities there is nothing coming to save them but if they come together, they can do it from within. We have growing issues facing our population now. You can be despairing about that or you can help to make some improvements.”

Information about the new primary care network can be found on the Healthier Neighbourhoods website.