Work to begin on new Worthing health hub

During a virtual meeting on Tuesday (March 30), councillors signalled its support to turn the Worthing Town Hall car park into the new Worthing Integrated Care Centre (WICC), after plans were approved last year.

It will be the first of its type in Worthing, the councils said, and will deliver significant care benefits for the community with GP, community, mental health and pharmacy services under one roof.

A spokesman for Worthing Borough Council said: “We’re pleased to be working with partners on bringing forward the Worthing Integrated Care Centre and we’re confident work will begin this summer.

“The facilities will improve the way residents receive care for many years to come – something we know will be very much welcomed by all.”

The site, owned by the borough council, had been considered as an under-utilised key brownfield development site.

The councils said the development will enable integrated working between different NHS partners by significantly improving their accommodation, which is dispersed throughout the town.

And the proposed development will bring together Coastal West Sussex CCG, Worthing Medical Group, Sussex Community Foundation Trust, and Sussex Partnership Foundation Trust services into one integrated health care facility in the heart of Worthing.

Plans for an accompanying multi-storey car park have also been approved. It will be six-storeys high - accommodating for 186 vehicles and 36 bicycles.

A further 28 cycle bays will also be made available as part of the WICC development.

Construction on the project is expected to start in the summer and finish in the spring of 2023, the councils said.

Despite the impacts the pandemic has had on the progression of the care centre, considerable work has been undertaken on the project, they added.