Partners in Plymouth have launched the city’s first Specialist Wellbeing Hub at the Cumberland Centre.
Although the new hub is the fourth wellbeing hub in the city it will be the first of two specialist wellbeing hubs which will benefit from additional services over and above what is available in Plymouth’s existing hubs.
Services at the hub will be provided by Livewell Southwest and a range of local partners, while the hub is jointly commissioned by Plymouth City Council and Northern, Eastern and Western Devon Clinical Commissioning Group (NEW Devon CCG). The hub was officially launched by Leader of Plymouth City Council Councillor Tudor Evans, Councillor Ian Tuffin, Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care, Dan O’Toole, Deputy Chief Executive of Livewell Southwest, and Dr Shelagh McCormick, GP Chair for Western and Plymouth locality of NEW Devon CCG.
Leader of Plymouth City Council, Councillor Tudor Evans OBE, said: “I am delighted to be able to launch the city’s first ever Specialist Wellbeing Hub with our partners Livewell Southwest and NEW Devon CCG.
“The Cumberland Centre already has some fantastic facilities and is the ideal location for this – so the new hub will provide a very welcome enhancement to the service offer there.”
Councillor Ian Tuffin, Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care for Plymouth City Council, said: “The hubs are a key part of the city’s vision to integrate health and social care by taking a different approach. The focus is on prevention of ill health, wellbeing and on ensuring services can be readily accessed in the place and community in which people live.”
Jan Potter, Head of Health Improvement at Livewell Southwest, said: “We are very excited to be launching the Cumberland Centre as the first specialist wellbeing hub with our partners. Livewell will continue to provide a wide range of clinical services at the centre, but its hub status means people will also be able to easily access support in other areas which affect health and wellbeing, like housing, money management, anxiety, stress, weight management, stopping smoking, healthy eating and One You Plymouth clinics.”
Dr Shelagh McCormick, Chair of the Western Locality of NEW Devon CCG said: “Helping people stay well and making sure health, social care and wellbeing services work together are key to the NHS Long Term Plan. Excellent facilities like the Cumberland Centre will help realise those ambitions and bring real benefits for local people.”
Over the past year, other wellbeing hubs have been launched in the city at the Jan Cutting Centre (with the Wolseley Trust), Four Greens Wellbeing Hub (with Four Greens Community Trust) and Mannamead Wellbeing Hub (with Improving Lives Plymouth).
Tanya Seldon, who regularly uses the Four Greens Wellbeing Hub, said: “I think it’s great that more wellbeing hubs will be opening across Plymouth.
“When I moved to the area I didn’t really know anyone but going to Four Greens has really helped me and improved my mental health, people have been very supportive and I’ve made a lot of friends. I would definitely recommend the wellbeing hubs.”
As well as the standard wellbeing hub offer which includes linking people into voluntary and community sector activity to improve their wellbeing, befriending services, time bank volunteering opportunities and signposting to other local services, the Cumberland Specialist Wellbeing Hub will offer more specialist mental health support, help with managing long term conditions and support for carers. The specialist wellbeing hub will also benefit from the wide range of services already on offer at the Cumberland Centre, including minor injury services, community therapy services and sexual health.
