Photo: Bill Brown, Gedling Primary Care Trust Project Manager for the new Carlton primary care centre, and Susan Lewis, LIFT lead for Broxtowe & Hucknall PCT, with Prime Minister Tony Blair

Primary care trust managers from Nottingham were invited to meet Prime Minister Tony Blair at an evening reception recently to celebrate the achievements of the Local Improvement Finance Trust (LIFT) initiative.

Bill Brown, Gedling Primary Care Trust’s Project Manager for the new Carlton primary care centre, and Susan Lewis, Broxtowe & Hucknall PCT’s Premises Planning & Development Manager spent the evening at 10 Downing Street with NHS staff from across the country to discuss the national initiative to modernise health and social care premises.

Bill Brown commented, “The LIFT scheme is a true example of partnership working and will deliver improved health and social care facilities in the community. It was fantastic to see the government recognising and celebrating that. Not only were we able to share Nottingham’s achievements with other representatives from around the country, we were also able to talk to the Prime Minster about the huge benefits that facilities like Carlton primary care centre will bring to patients and the public.”

Susan Lewis, from Broxtowe & Hucknall PCT, said "I was extremely honoured to represent the LIFT team, the PCT staff and patients who have been involved in the whole project. The Prime Minister in his speech mentioned the LIFT scheme and we felt he was pleased to hear first hand experiences of how services and buildings are being modernised in Greater Nottingham."

Five new health and social care centres are being built across Greater Nottingham as part of the 25-year public/private sector partnership, in Stapleford, Carlton, Clifton, Keyworth and Hyson Green. Partners include the four Greater Nottingham primary care trusts, Nottingham City Council, Nottinghamshire County Council, Partnerships for Health (part of the Department of Health) and Excell Care Ltd.