A fresh scheme for a new Shaw and Crompton Health Centre has been agreed after earlier plans were torn up due to increases in ‘costs and inflation’.

In a shock announcement via Zoom back in April the Oldham Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) announced it was axing plans for the new centre after deeming it ‘unaffordable’ but was forced back to the drawing board by Shaw and Crompton councillors.

The initial plans would have seen land on the former Shaw Baths site redeveloped to enable the relocation of the Oak Gables Partnership GP surgery onto a new site and into a new facility by March 2023 subject to various conditions and timescales.

After facing mounting pressure, the CCG has now announced that a new plan to redevelop the Shaw and Crompton Health Centre which stays within the ‘updated budget’ has been agreed.

In a statement, Mike Barker, accountable officer for the CCG, said: “Earlier this year the project was temporarily put on hold to consider the challenges we faced with the national economy and how this affected public finances and rising prices through inflation.

"When this happened, we said we were committed to finding a solution for this much-needed facility.

“Since March, we have been working hard to move this project forward and we thank local politicians with their support in helping us to progress this.

“The Shaw/Crompton development has been in the making for more than 15 years, but now we have a new deal which is fantastic news for patients and the local area.”

Shaw councillor and Liberal Democrat group leader, Howard Sykes said on behalf of all his Shaw and Crompton colleagues that the announcement from the CCG was “long overdue” and came “after hours of work behind the scenes to thrash out the problems that had held the project up.”

He added: “This is great news for Shaw and Crompton. Access to modern healthcare facilities is a top priority for the people we represent. They deserve the security of knowing those services will be there when they need them.

“What we’ve had is a long and uncertain journey to this point over many years but by working constructively, we have now got it across the line.”

“This news is very welcome indeed and is a poke in the eye for those who talk our area down and said it would never happen”, Cllr Sykes added.

More specific details about the redevelopment, service provisions and a start date for construction on the old baths site, on Westway are still yet to be confirmed.