Cllr Pat Wright
ABOUT 100 adult social care staff at Warrington are to be relocated as part of the borough council’s plans to transform the service.
They will join up with social services staff at New Town House and the Quattro Building on June 17 ahead of the demolition of their home for the last 20 years – the Harrison Centre.
Demolition of the centre will allow the redevelopment of Harrison Square with two new shops and 61 new affordable homes.
Harrison Centre staff will join the council’s new neighbourhood-based community teams covering the central, south, east and west areas of the borough.
The council says the new teams will be able to better meet service user’s needs, with stronger community links and better knowledge of what services and facilities are available locally.
The council’s lead member for adult social care and strategic health, Cllr Pat Wright, said: “Like all other towns and cities, Warrington will see a steep rise in the number of older people over the next decade. This brings with it a growing demand for high quality health and social care services.
“Service users have told us that the journey through health and social care can at times feel complicated and overwhelming. That’s why we are creating innovative ways of working, bringing health and social care services together in a new integrated system,built around the needs of local people.
“It’s about helping people navigate through the system with greater ease, maximising their independence, and giving them increased choice and control when accessing services – in their own neighbourhoods.”
The new system is aimed at making it easier for local people to get the support they need. It will focus on three distinct areas – complex care, to support those with complicated issues; managed care, for those who are being helped to remain independent; and prevention, for carers and those who need lower level support, advice or information.
The council has written to around 2,500 people who use the services provided by staff at the Harrison Centre. The facility has primarily been an operational base for staff, which means there will be minimal impact for service users. However, the small number of people who attend the centre in person are being directed to attend Contact Warrington on Horsemarket Street instead.
For further information about the Harrison Square redevelopment and the wider plans to transform Bewsey and Dallam, through the “Delivering Wellbeing” initiative, visit www.warringtontogether.co.uk/bewseydallam
