Case
Tyneside get new health and fitness centre
Taking the view that ‘prevention is better than cure’ as an approach to health issues has been one of the most significant shifts in attitude to happen within the NHS in the UK in recent years. This can be seen most clearly with the creation of Strategic Health Authorities which came about in 2002, and operate on behalf of the secretary of state, to deliver a range of health services via various routes including Primary Care Trusts PCTs).
Today there are 151 PCTs in England. These trusts are now at the centre of the NHS and control 80% of the budget. They are local organisations who work closely with the community and who therefore are ideally placed to understand local needs. Because of this broader approach, they are choosing to provide centres which incorporate aspects of social care, mental health services as well as actual primary care.
A recent example of this type of combined approach can be seen in action with the much anticipated opening of the £18m Blaydon Leisure and Primary Care Centre in Gateshead, on Tyneside.
Built on the site of the former Blaydon Comprehensive School, the new complex will deliver a wide range of services right into the very heart of the community. These services include dental, podiatry, mental health, physiotherapy, sexual health, weight management and breast screening services as well as speech and language therapy and musculoskeletal services.
There is also a minor illness and injury walk-in unit which also provides the public with access to a range of health information. The leisure facilities include a 6-lane 25m metre pool, plus a learner pool, and a large state-of-the-art fully-equipped gym plus a multi-purpose room and extensive changing facilities.
Making sure that a co-location such as this has the correct support infrastructure, encompasses ensuring that the pump requirements will also meet the very high standards set by this new facility. This is important as the infrastructure needs to support the various key services the facility will provide and in this instance a wide range of Grundfos energy-efficient pumps were selected to deliver the M&E needs.
The bespoke pump solution was designed to meet the specific range of requirements of the new centre and was designed in conjunction with consultants Cundall and installed by LJJ Contractors who worked closely with Grundfos Pumps to ensure that the overall pump solution would not just meet, but exceed, the centres needs.
Energy was high on the pump agenda both in terms of system efficiency and delivering a low carbon footprint. Playing their role are members of the electronically controlled single-stage centrifugal Grundfos TPED twin-head pump families. These pumps are ideal for use in both heating and cooling systems and form the back-bone of this solution, in addition members of the award winning MAGNA canned rotor circulator ‘A’ labelled pumps also play a key role and, vitally for a centre where consistently matching the water demand is paramount importance, are 3 x Hydro Multi-E complete pressure boosting systems.
With the emphasis within the NHS shifting to take a more holistic view of the overall health and wellbeing needs of a local community as a whole, centres such as these will continue to play an increasingly pivotal role within these trusts for many years to come. The new Blaydon Centre can rest assured that, where supported by Grundfos pump solutions, the facilities will quietly and efficiently continue to meet all the demands placed upon them for many years to come.