On Thursday, 3 November 2022, the new Corringham and Stanford-le-Hope Integrated Health and Wellbeing Centre (IMWC) officially opened to the public. The launch of the new IMWC, delivered by NELFT, represents the first of four to be opened across the Thurrock region, designed to provide health and wellbeing support for the local community.

The IMWC programme is part of a wider transformation of health and care in Thurrock and is supported by the Better Care Together Thurrock initiative, which brings together partners across mental health, health, social care and community and voluntary sectors.

Joining services together means better outcomes for people closer to home and a offers a comprehensive range of health, care, social support that focuses on prevention and wellbeing, as much as it does on health services.

NELFT Acting chief executive, Jacqui Van Rossum, said:

“It’s a great achievement that our partners across Thurrock have managed to work together to kick off the IMWC’s transformation programme throughout the borough with the delivery of the new centre for Corringham and Stanford-le-Hope.”

“The design and development of the centre has been long anticipated since the initial planning discussions back in 2017. So, it’s a real moment of excitement to have this brand-new build ready to open its doors and start delivering services with a key focus on providing the health and wellbeing support for the community – when and where they need it most.”

Rita Thakaria, Partnership Director, Adults Health and Social Care (Thurrock Council/Essex University Partnership Trust/NELFT) said:

“Our approach to delivering health and wellbeing support to our local community through the IMWC, is to work with people and help them to make informed decisions about the care they receive – so that they can achieve the health and wellbeing outcomes that are important to them,”

Reflecting on the need for not only health provisioning for the region, but also proactive mental health and physical wellbeing initiatives, Rita spoke of the importance of providing a unified integrated health and care approach which supports healthy lifestyles:

“It’s important that we deliver services that can identify and treat illness when presented, but equally important that we work with people and provide services which can identify and help resolve the underlying causes of some issues, such as poor mental or physical fitness. Our focus is to support identifying what’s strong and not what’s wrong to enable our residents to lead happier and healthier lives. This ethos is very much a part of our new build and our care model for the new centre, which aims to reinvigorate our service approach in line with the Better Care Together Thurrock vision, address health inequalities and provide flexible, bespoke solutions to complex issues – coproduced in partnership with the people receiving care.”

These key themes are reflected in the services offered in IMWC, which is resourced to support Adult Mental Health and Community Health Services, Sexual Health Services, Primary Care, Adult Social Care, Children and Young people services, Lifestyle & Wellbeing Services, Long-Term Conditions, Outpatients and Diagnostics such as Phlebotomy and AAA Screening.

The new IMWC also supports shared group spaces freely available to the community. This is aimed at ensuring a sense of ownership and belonging for the local community, enabling local groups designated space to use for community-led events and activities.

To celebrate the opening of the new IMWC, representatives from Thurrock Council, Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Board (MSE ICB), NELFT, Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust (MSEFT), Essex Partnership University Trust (EPUT), Healthwatch, Community and Voluntary Sector and Local Schools attended the launch event which included a selection of keynote speakers and concluded with guided tours of the new facility.