Vote for naming Bakewell’s new NHS health hub
Construction of Bakewell’s brand new £11m health hub and ambulance station is taking shape and it needs a proper name.
Bakewell and Derbyshire Dales residents are invited to vote for their name preference from a shortlist of options for this new NHS community services facility.
It is set to open in mid-2024 on a site beside the old Newholme Hospital which is being decommissioned and all current services moved into the new building, under construction by Kier Group.
The development is a partnership between Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Foundation Trust and East Midlands Ambulance Services NHS Trust whose former ambulance station was demolished to make way for the new integrated health hub, combining a range of outpatient services housed in purposed-designed modern facilities, as well as an ambulance base.
The six name suggestions which people are invited to vote on, via an online poll, are:
- Newholme Health Centre
- Newholme Integrated Health Hub
- Bakewell Integrated Health Hub
- Newholme Health Hub
- Bakewell Health Hub.
The poll closed on Sunday 17 March 2024. We’ll announce the chosen name soon.
Jim Austin, executive director spokesman for Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are delighted to invite people from the communities who will use this fantastic new NHS facility to have a say in the naming of their building.
“This development is a major milestone in the regeneration of NHS healthcare facilities and will enable us to continue to provide a whole range of community-based health services to residents in the Bakewell area in accommodation suitable for the delivery of modern care.”
Mark Dady, managing director, Kier Construction Eastern and Midlands, said: "The new hub is a major step forward for healthcare in the local area and the result of a real collaborative effort between local providers. We are proud to be a part of this project that is delivering fantastic facilities and look forward to seeing the results of the poll.”
Bakewell and District Historical Society has been helpful in explaining the origins of the name Newholme to determine the significance it holds for the site and help residents decide if this should be perpetuated in the naming of the new building.
In brief, in 1841 Newholme workhouse first occupied the building which would later become the hospital, although its name was subsequently changed to Bakewell Public Assistance Institution, and then to Newholme Hospital under the NHS in 1948. You can find more details here in an article from 2018 submitted to the historical society by Pat Marjoram, which includes a wonderful old photo of medical and nursing staff outside the main building in 1916.
Staff from Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Foundation Trust will be out and about in Bakewell on Monday 26 February and Monday 11 March to help answer any questions about the new health development and to support people to cast their votes. If you have any questions, please contact: dchst.communications@nhs.net
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Planning permission was granted to construct a new health hub and ambulance station in Bakewell on land incorporating part of Newholme Hospital and the adjoining East Midlands Ambulance Service site on Baslow Road in April 2021. The plans were designed to be sympathetic to the heritage of the area and were approved by the Peak Park Authority planning committee.
The tender process to appoint a contractor was successfully concluded with Kier Group appointed to develop the site and a turf cutting ceremony was held in August 2022 to celebrate the start of building work on site. Handover of the completed building is expected to take place in summer 2024 ready for fitting out for NHS services to transfer into during late summer.
Funding of £8.58m towards the cost of the project was awarded by the Department of Health and Social Care in December 2018. The funding was secured under the government’s Sustainability and Transformation Partnership drive to transform health and social care for local communities.
The 19th century Newholme Hospital building was earmarked for closure as not suitable for the delivery of modern healthcare, as agreed in the Better Care Closer to Home consultation led by NHS commissioners in 2017.
The whole Newholme Hospital site is owned by NHS Property Services who are closely involved and supportive of the scheme to develop the new facilities on land beside the old hospital. NHS Property Services sold back to Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Foundation Trust the strip of land which formerly incorporating Riverside Ward to enable the new development. NHS Property Services is responsible for the disposal of the old Newholme Hospital building in accordance with its listed status. NHS services will vacate the old hospital building to move into the new health facilities once they open.