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Campaigners outside the headquarters of NHS Islington yesterday (Thursday) |
AXED: PIECE OF OUR HISTORY
Campaigners prepare to take health centre battle to High Court
A LANDMARK building in the history of British architecture is doomed after health chiefs ignored a last-gasp attempt to save Finsbury Health Centre.
Patients, prominent architects, heritage groups, the Town Hall and Islington’s two MPs have objected to controversial plans to abandon the internationally-acclaimed health centre in Pine Street.
NHS Islington chief executive Rachel Tyndall told a board meeting yesterday morning (Thursday) she realised that the way the decision had been handled had “pissed some people off” but refused to back a compromise deal.
John Allan, biographer of the visionary architect of the Grade I-listed building, Berthold Lubetkin, had held private talks with Ms Tyndall right up to the start of the meeting which discussed the future of the centre.
Mr Allan said the building could be easily refitted and urged board members to delay the decision until an offer to refurbish was submitted by the not-for-profit Heritage of London Trust (HLT).
Under the compromise deal, the ?centre would have been repaired and then leased back to the health body – but the suggestion was flatly ruled out. It was not even mentioned in the final discussion.
Mr Allan, director of Avanti Architects in City Road, Angel, has overseen many prominent refurbishment projects, including at London Zoo. He said: “This is an unwelcome and unnecessary decision. There is a lot for the lawyers to work with now.”
Patients and campaigners are already in advanced talks with lawyers about a High Court judicial review of the decision.
Finsbury patient Barb Jacobson said: “There are definite grounds for judicial review. The consultation was flawed. The board has failed to consider an extremely viable alternative and its costings are dodgy.”
The health centre opened in 1938 as the first publicly-owned building of its kind in the country. For the first time doctors worked alongside other health professionals, including children’s specialists, podiatrists and dentists. The centre was used as a prototype for the creation of the NHS.
Ms Jacobson, who secured the offer from HLT, said: “I am very disappointed the board did not even consider the extremely viable option of a not-for-profit trust. If the Heritage of London Trust was given ownership of the building they would have handled the refurbishment and associated fundraising. Because they work with grants, the lease back would have been far cheaper than what has so far been considered.”
Under government health reforms, all health building refurbishments must be carried out under a Private Finance Initiative (PFI). It means once-publicly-owned buildings must be sold to a private company, which carries out improvements and then rents the space back to the NHS over a period of up to 35 years.
Under this system, the refurbishment would have cost NHS Islington £400,000 a year more than building a new centre of a similar size.
Ms Tyndall told the meeting the board was “constrained” by having to enter into a PFI deal.
She said: “We have genuinely been trying for a long time to come up with a refurbishment scheme for Finsbury Health Centre. We have tried and failed.
“There is a big issue about the development of new services for GPs in Pine Street and the relocation of other services. I realise we have not consulted people about whether we should refurbish the building, which has pissed some people off. But it is our view that spending this money is not the best use of NHS money. All services currently at Finsbury Health Centre will be continued to be provided locally.”
The meeting heard how the decision was taken chiefly because the building could not easily be made to comply with new disability access rules. Tony Hoolaghan, locality director at NHS Islington, said narrow corridors in the basement would not allow two wheelchairs to pass each other. Because the building was listed, crucial adaptations such as a lift for disabled patients would be too costly.
Some services, including the Michael Palin Stammering Centre for Children and the podiatry and dental clinics, will be moved out of Finsbury to new premises in Holloway and Angel. The idea is to increase access for patients across Islington, rather than concentrating services in the south of the borough.
Steve Hitchins, former Lib Dem leader of Islington council who sits on the board of NHS Islington said: “The quality of services will improve dramatically as a result of these changes, however unsettling they may seem. Finsbury Health Centre was once described as ‘for the people of Finsbury’. Well, now we have to think about the people of Islington.” |
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