It’s a grey and bitter morning in Erdington and the high street is slowly beginning to wake up. My destination is an unassuming health centre, tucked away amid the shops and cafes welcoming in customers from the cold.
The North Birmingham Urgent Centre (UTC) has only been in the area for a few months but has become the centre of a huge political row which has continued to unfold in recent weeks. The centre was moved by the NHS to Erdington Health and Wellbeing Centre (EHWBC) in the high street following the discovery of RAAC, the lightweight concrete susceptible to deterioration over time, in its old building in Kingstanding.
But after the “emergency and temporary” move, a report noted there were “growing concerns” about safety and the environment surrounding the centre. “While the temporary emergency relocation process has been successfully implemented, there are emerging concerns regarding an increase in anti-social behaviour, violence and other serious criminal activity in the vicinity of the UTC,” it said.
READ MORE: ‘Incredibly disappointed’: Birmingham politicians hit out at NHS over emergency move of health facility
“Consequently, due to the extent and seriousness of the incidents in the vicinity of EHWBC […], remaining on site brings potential risk of having to close the site without notice if future incidents present imminent danger”. Reported incidents include threats of violence to staff members of the UTC and reports of gang-related conflict near the facility.
A second “emergency temporary relocation” of the centre is now set to take place, this time from Erdington High Street to Good Hope Hospital in Sutton Coldfield, but the planned move has angered politicians who represent the area. “[The NHS] should really be engaging with the police, councillors and residents to discuss a way to keep the facility here, rather than imposing a move away,” Erdington councillor Robert Alden tells me in a cafe during my visit.
“Of course we don’t have an A&E here in Erdington – to use it, you have to go to Good Hope. But that’s got a lot of demand so it’s really important to have urgent care centres like this one here in Erdington high street because they help alleviate the pressures on A&E and doctors’ surgeries.
“Being here in the heart of the community, on the high street, it’s a place that’s easy for people to get to – they should absolutely be keeping it here. And it’s something you would think a public service like the NHS would want to do because surely it’s their job to invest in communities.”
Erdington Health and Wellbeing Centre in the high street, where North Birmingham Urgent Treatment Centre was moved to
(Image: Alexander Brock)
On the issues in the high street, Coun Alden said they had been working with police to try to secure additional policing on the high street to combat anti-social behaviour. “Police have been starting to respond to that and we’ve got extra officers now,” he said.
“Hopefully we’ll have even more officers locally in the new year to help tackle some of those crimes. A lot of the issues relate to exempt accommodation in the north Birmingham area and sadly Erdington, being the major high street, is the place that draws them in.
“That’s why it needs a really tough police response, which I hope we’re beginning to see now.” “We’ve also been looking to get the Public Space Protection Order renewed,” he added.
He went on to urge the NHS to invest and not “pull out” of Erdington, telling me: “For too long, the high street hasn’t had the investment like places in the city centre have had. We want to see regeneration of the high street and tougher measures to limit the number of exempt accommodation units in the area so this wonderful community can get their high street back.
“Every week if you look around Erdington, you see wonderful community events that are being put on and often funded by the local community here. What they just need is that support from the institutions back because they’re putting their all in to make our area a wonderful place to live and work.”
‘Incredibly disappointed’
Birmingham Erdington MP Paulette Hamilton also said she “objected in the strongest possible terms” to the emergency move in a letter which was read out during a recent council meeting. In particular, she said she was “incredibly disappointed” by the lack of meetings with both herself and the police before the decision was made.
“It could have been that alternative options in Erdington were explored,” she said. “This is simply not the way that elected members and patients should be treated by the NHS.”
Faith Button, chief delivery officer at the NHS Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care, acknowledged engagement on this issue had “broken down” during the meeting. Justifying the move, she said: “We have taken legal advice on this, we have a duty of care – not only to our population but to our staff.
“People are now no longer coming, so we have taxpayers paying for a UTC which is not being used.” She stressed the emergency move was not an attempt to bypass consultation.
Erdington MP Paulette Hamilton
(Image: Darren Quinton/Birmingham Live)
“We have been working with West Midlands Police for a long period of time,” she said. “But it is getting so severe, our legal advice is we need to trigger this move before something happens.” A NHS document said relocation would be the most “straightforward solution” as long as it can be shown the impact on residents can be minimised while improving overall provision within the area.
It said the second emergency move would mean “no ongoing risk to patient and staff safety” as well as newer facilities than the current site. On the option of doing nothing and leaving the service in Erdington, the document said it was “not in the best interests of patients and staff attending or working at site due to the safety concerns”.
The closure of the service was also not recommended, with the document saying: “The loss of an Urgent Treatment Centre within our system […] would impact on other supporting services.” An update, published in September, said a review of UTCs across Birmingham and Solihull was being carried out, including options for the permanent location of North Birmingham UTC.