New facility at the Cleveland Centre set to provide huge boost to public health

A new facility is set to provide a huge boost to public health in Middlesbrough when it opens in the coming weeks.

The Live Well Centre is relocating to the Cleveland Centre and will deliver a multitude of preventative clinics and health and wellbeing services in a new location which is easier for residents to access. Spread over two floors, it will bring back into use two former shops which have stood empty for a number of years.

The new Live Well Centre will be opening to the public in phases between December 14 and 19 as services move across from its former home at Dundas House, with staff on hand to ensure people attend the correct location for their appointment.

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Middlesbrough Mayor Chris Cooke said: "The Live Well Centre is a force for good in Middlesbrough and offers so many vital services to our residents. By relocating to a new, purpose-built location which is more accessible and convenient for our residents the number of lives it can touch will only increase.

"One of my key aims is to improve public health in Middlesbrough and I envisage the new Live Well Centre to be able to offer even more to the people of the town. It will also help to support nearby shops, leisure and hospitality businesses -the more people we bring into the town centre, the more people will use other businesses too."

Services available at the new centre include various NHS clinics such as bowel screening, diabetes remission and support, community midwifery and pulmonary rehab. The stop smoking service will also be located at the Live Well, along with welfare rights and some Citizens Advice support.

Entrance to the new Live Well Centre will be from Albert Road and anyone with a public health need is welcome to drop-in, with fully trained staff able to signpost residents to the correct service for their need. A regional sexual health service - providing contraception, testing and vasectomies - will be operated by HCRG, and accessed from a separate entrance inside the Cleveland Centre from 9am until 5pm, with evening access from Albert Road.

The Live Well will also offer a state-of-the-art gym delivering specialist GP referral programmes and a large training kitchen area allowing teaching of cookery, weight management, nutrition, budgeting, and planning. The move is supported by government funding which aims to target support at projects which will revitalise high streets, healthcare, transport and education, and create more affordable housing.

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