Link Centre re-opens after six months

Colleagues (left to right) Claire Beesley (Moving and Handling Coordinator from Pennine Care Foundation Trust) and Yvonne Beswick (Moving and Handling Assistant from Oldham Council), who now work together in The Link Centre

Oldham Council has re-opened the doors of its newly-refurbished Link Centre.

The renovated venue provides accommodation for a range of groups and services that support those most in need with ground floor, accessible meeting spaces.

It also provides office space for a number of health and social care services including a therapy hub and will support Oldham Cares on its journey to align Oldham’s health and social care services providing accommodation for staff from both Oldham Council and Pennine Care Foundation Trust.

Cllr Zahid Chauhan, Cabinet Member for Health and Social Care, said: “After six months of hard work and investment we are pleased to re-open The Link Centre to the public.

“The future of the building has been the subject of much debate with consultations throughout 2017. This resulted in the implementation of a new model to keep the building open.

"The Link Centre has always been key to providing support to our most vulnerable residents and that is why it was so important to preserve it in this way.

“I’m pleased that we’ve found a balance between operating accessible meeting spaces for community groups and providing accommodation for Adult Social Care and therapy teams.  

“Bringing staff together to work as Oldham Cares will deliver a better health care experience for our residents through a sharing of knowledge, resources and skills.”

Oldham Cares sees local health and social care systems being brought closer together as organisations including Oldham Council, NHS Oldham Clinical Commissioning Group and a number of their partners and providers - including Bridgewater NHS, MioCare, Northern Care Alliance and Pennine Care Foundation Trust – strengthen how they work together as an alliance.

With the support and co-operation of other partners – including housing providers, employers, local businesses and Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise (VCFSE) – Oldham Cares is focusing on delivering the greatest and fastest possible improvement in the health and wellbeing of the borough’s residents by 2020.

This isn’t another organisation – it’s a whole system approach to improving the health and quality of life of our patients and residents, and delivering high quality, joined-up health and care services now and in the future.

Cllr Chauhan added: “The local social care system belongs to all of us and that is why we are asking the people of Oldham to take part in The Big Conversation where they can have their say on the way health and social care services are delivered now and in the future.”

The Big Conversation is a predominantly digital campaign, which will give people the opportunity to air their views on a variety of topics, including receiving care closer to home; the case for integrating health and social care; people’s experience of care homes and care packages; the provision of services for people with learning disabilities, mental health problems and dementia; our work around safeguarding and Special Educational Needs & Disabilities plus how teams of professionals from different parts of the public sector could work in different ways to join up care.

It also asks the public what their own health and wellbeing priorities are, and how they plan to look after themselves both now and in the future.

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