Dan Poulter and Waveney MP Peter Aldous tour Kirkley Mill health campus

PUBLISHED: 07:00 25 February 2015

By MARK BOGGIS

L to R - Dr John Stammers, Chair and GP, HealthEast; Andy Evans,Chief Executive, HealthEast; Peter Aldous, MP for Waveney; Dr Daniel Poulter MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Health; Paul Steward, ECCH Chairman; Jonathan Williams, ECCH Chief Executive; Pictures: MICK HOWES

Archant

With a new era for healthcare in Lowestoft unveiled at the opening of the Kirkley Mill campus last year, integrated services have been brought together all under one roof.

And two Thursday’s ago the Health Minister, Dan Poulter, and Waveney MP Peter Aldous were given a

tour of the facility in Economy Road, which brings GP services, community services and some

hospital clinics all together on one site for patients in Lowestoft.

With Dr Poulter – the MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich – scheduled to

visit Kirkley Mill Health Centre and Norwich last November, the trip was cancelled following a car accident.

But last week Dr Poulter and Mr Aldous visited

the Lowestoft Out of Hospital team and toured the health campus alongside

Andy Evans, the chief executive of HealthEast, Dr John Stammers, chairman of NHS Great Yarmouth and Waveney Clinical Commissioning Group and officials from the East

Coast Community Healthcare team.

With patients receiving a seamless service between health and social care, both MPs were impressed at

the innovative new ways of working being shown and

the great results being achieved.

Mr Aldous said: “I think it was a very helpful and productive meeting. I have been wanting to get Dan Poulter to Lowestoft, what with his constituency bordering my own, but also to see what is in many respects the pioneering work that is being done with regards to health and social care.

“He was very, very impressed with what he

saw at Kirkley Mill,” he added.

“I think what has been

done in Lowestoft is actually a great example of what can be done and this can be

taken to other parts of the country.”

Dr John Stammers, chairman of HealthEast, said: “We were delighted that Dr Poulter was able to visit our new services at Kirkley Mill and showed a real understanding and enthusiasm for what the team has achieved so far.

“This is a real asset to the patients in Lowestoft and will help us provide a first class NHS for the population into the future.

“It was especially pleasing to get such strong support from a Health Minister for the team.”

Have you got a Lowestoft story? Email mark.boggis@archant.co.uk or call 01502 525833.