Over the past 20 years, Community 1st Cornwall (C1C) has been working in partnership with the local NHS to deliver much needed investment into primary healthcare buildings, tailored to the specific health needs of the local community.
This partnership came to life in 2004, with the development of our first scheme, Oak Tree Surgery in Liskeard which opened in early 2005, followed by four other primary care facilities in Roche, Praze-an-Beeble, Truro and Penntorr. These facilities are great examples of our understanding of the NHS Long Term Plan, ensuring each facility has a flexible design that has been able to adapt to evolving health requirements over the years, whilst continuing to provide safe, modern, and compliant spaces for the original building users.
Truro Health Park is our flagship development, which showcases the versatility of our long term partnership approach. Recent variations have seamlessly accommodated bespoke clients for both Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and Adult Community Mental Health Teams with existing primary care services.
Community 1st has a responsibility to maintain these facilities for the NHS. Operational facilities management is provided by our supply chain partner, Blue Support Services via their locally based team, generating long term employment opportunities for their skilled team. Our proactive maintenance approach means these buildings continue to look as good today as they did when they were built.
Ken Jones, General Manager, Community 1st Cornwall said “Community 1st is proud to be a long term partner to the NHS in Cornwall. We have an established local team who understand the local area and the priorities for our NHS partners. The lasting legacy of this partnership can be seen through the impact these community health facilities make to their local communities.”
Rhianon Murray, Senior Operations Manager at Blue Support Services said: “As a local employer, Blue Support Services takes its responsibility to maintain the Community 1st / NHS facilities to the highest standard seriously. These are wonderful assets for our communities and provide essential health services to so many people. Blue Support provide facilities management, statutory compliance services and support for backlog maintenance projects across the wider NHS and we are proud to be able to support our front line NHS colleagues to deliver care in improved facilities.”
Community 1st is a long term procurement cleared partner to the local NHS in Cornwall, enabling local NHS and public sector teams to procure essential estates-relates services without the need for further expensive and time consuming procurement processes.
Through this collaborative framework, Community 1st continues to actively support the local health economy, ensuring that priorities are met on time and within budget. This includes strategic estates planning, capacity and utilisation reviews, comprehensive 6-facet surveys, and the successful execution of over 220 Capital Projects in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly since 2004 on the NHS owned estate.
These projects, ranging from around £20k to £20m, encompass critical aspects such as backlog maintenance, redesign, and refurbishment of community hospitals . Just some of our achievements include the establishment of a state-of-the-art Community Diagnostic Centre, specialised mental health facilities for CAMHS, and the swift implementation of critical Covid hubs during the pandemic.
As a result of our unwavering commitment and long-term local partnerships, we’ve not only constructed and maintained buildings to a high standard but also supported our NHS partners to deliver their strategic commitments of a more resilient, and responsive healthcare ecosystems for Cornwall and the Isle of Scilly.
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