EARLY ONE MORNING.........................
Cllr Alan Dean
Liberal Democrat Councillor for Stansted North on Uttlesford District Council and former Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group Learn more
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EARLY ONE MORNING.........................
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AIRPORT PLANNING DEBACLE CONTINUED - WITH £££££ STILL TO PAY
Stansted’s health centre: a step closer?
by Alan Dean on 7 September, 2014
The scene on 31st August 2014
Almost on cue, the demolition of buildings on the proposed the site for Stansted’s long-awaited medical centre got underway in the past week. Above is the site last Sunday, August 31st.
Below is how it looks today, Sunday 7th September, 2014. Fingers crossed that this is the first step towards a new building and medical centre. The latest news from the NHS was that they still hadn’t signed up for a lease from the developer.
UPDATE: SEPTEMBER 8TH
I have spoken today to a contact within the NHS who is directly involved in the project and whom I have known for many years so is a source in whom I have confidence.
Work is still in progress to verify that what the NHS will get is what the NHS expects and wants. This requires descriptions of all rooms in the medical centre to be drawn and written up so that they can be checked and signed off by the NHS. Some information is still in the process of being provided by the developer. This all takes a long time and has to be done before the lease can be signed by the NHS. Until the lease is signed the banks will not release the money that is needed to construct the new building.
Meanwhile, the developer is proceeding with demolition of the old buildings at his own expense and risk. There is no question of the doctors’ practice being the cause of the delay in signing the lease. It’s what is known as due diligence in business circles and I guess we, as taxpayers, would be unhappy if the NHS signed up to something in a rush that subsequently proved not to be what is required because they hadn’t done their homework.
This is one of the drawbacks of public-private partnerships. Once the deal is signed, the private contractor can screw the public sector if the NHS, in this case, has to go back to negotiate a change to the contract or finds it isn’t getting what it expected and is stuck with a poor deal.
The scene on 7th September 2014
It’s good to know there is genuine cause for optimism somewhere in Uttlesford!
I heard that the developer, UDC and the NHS were locked into a dispute over car park charges for the health centre portion of the car park. I also heard that the stalling was coming from the Stansted Surgery practice. There’s a lot of hearsay, but no communication from the NHS. This was likely to happen once the health centre decision was delayed until after the abolition of PCT and its replacement with new structures and new priorities. I don’t get the impression NHS England is interested in the need for adequate primary healthcare provision in and around Stansted. It’s more remote and more focused on accounting. The failure to deliver this project would be a disaster.
I have posted an update just now which fills in some of the information gaps.
The NHS has had a long time to negotiate the internal plans with the developers, both before and after planning permission was awarded six months ago. It decided to go into a public-private partnership because for many years – some say 20, some say 40 – Stansted has been burdened with a situation of inadequate facilities. It’s had decades to deal with it. I get the impression it is deliberately stalling because it doesn’t care and doesn’t want to spend money.