It has been built to improve the facilities for GPs and bring care nearer for Upper Valley residents. The development has been led jointly by Todmorden Group Practice and the NHS in Calderdale.

The 15 month development was handed over to leaseholders, Todmorden Group Practice, on October 17. The practice will be the first service to move and will start to see their patients in the new centre on Halifax Road from December 6.

The new Todmorden Health Centre will provide an integrated service for patients and will include primary, hospital and local authority services. The new centre will offer a range of services and patients from the Upper Valley will now have the choice of where they are referred for treatment as the building will provide space for:

- Medication reviews with community pharmacists for conditions such as epilepsy;

- Musculoskeletal 'See and Treat' service for patients with conditions of their bones and joints;

- Counselling for people with mental health issues;

- Diabetic retinopathy;

- High demand hospital services such as ophthalmology, audiology, diagnostics including X-rays and blood tests, surgical outpatients and gynaecology and obstetrics.

Hospital services will be available from early New Year and patients will no longer have to travel to Calderdale Royal Hospital in Halifax if they don't wish to do so. All hospital services offered at the new health centre will have direct IT links into the main clinical information computer system at the hospital. This allows clinicians instant access to test results and clinical information during a patient consultation in Todmorden.

The new centre will also provide space for a community dental service and a second GP practice as part of PracticePlus, a national programme to improve access and choice of GPs locally.

Jane Keighley, GP from Todmorden Group Practice says: "The practice is delighted to have the opportunity to improve care for our patients. This project gave us the ability to change the way we work within our own practice by improving the integration with other primary care staff, and support the shift of provision of services from the hospital setting to outreach clinics closer to home. We feel this will improve health outcomes for the people of Todmorden, and we believe the new building will allow us to provide care in keeping with the 21st century."

Rhona Radley, Programme Manager for Care Closer to Home, NHS Calderdale says: "We have been working closely with our partners to ensure we capitalise on the potential to transform the way healthcare is delivered for the residents of Todmorden and surrounding areas. We are committed to providing high quality, clinically driven services closer to home for the residents of the Upper Valley.