The partnership has been positive and productive, leading to revitalising the community infrastructure for the benefit of local residents.
Background
The Ringland community is bounded by Ringland Way to the east, the southern boundary of Llanwern High School to the south, Balfe Rd, Aberthaw Rd, Ringland Circle, Ringwood Avenue, across Chepstow Rd, Mountbatten close and behind Chiltern Close and Glanwern Grove to the west and the M4 motorway to the north.
Ringland is close to junction 24 of the motorway and 12 minutes’ drive from Newport Railway Station. The surrounding area has green spaces including Ringland Wood run by the Woodland Trust.
Following on from the residential and shopping centre development built during the 1950s and 1960s, a largescale regeneration project was agreed in 2017 supporting the further development of new homes, relocated shopping centre, a new Health and Wellbeing Centre. The vision was to include incorporating the existing Newport City Council community hub. This approach would require multi-agency engagement to both support and deliver on the vision to transform the Ringland area into a sustainable vibrant place where people can live and work. The partnership between Aneurin Bevan University Health Board (ABUHB), Newport City Council (NCC) and Newport City Homes (NCH) has been positive and productive, leading to revitalising the community infrastructure for the benefit of local residents.
A close integration with the local community hub will provide opportunity for a holistic, more integrated approach to health and wellbeing in Ringland.
“It will also provide opportunities for some of the simpler surgery procedures to be carried out locally and in a more relaxing environment.”
Planning application report
Newport East New Integrated Health and Well-being Centre (19 Hills): Aneurin Bevan University Health Board
In May 2022, the Welsh Government approved the building of an integrated health and well-being centre in Ringland. The new development will house two existing GP practices and the Ringland Dental Surgery. The centre will also house multiple primary and community care services, assisting ABUHB with the delivery of its ‘Clinical Futures’ service model. The development will support place-based, integrated working between ABUHB and Newport City Council, delivering health and well-being services for approximately 17,000 people in the Ringland, Alway, and Somerton areas of east Newport.
The Newport East Health and Well-being Centre (19 Hills) development will be at the heart of the community and form part of a healthy and vibrant neighbourhood hub, available to all local residents.
The new development will see the existing Ringland Health Centre demolished and replaced with a new health and well-being centre, which will include Ringland Health Centre General Medical Service (GMS) and Park Surgery GMS.
The 19 Hills Centre will physically link to the newly refurbished Newport City Council Ringland Hub, allowing for greater integration with wider services that can support and respond to local need. A public car park for the centre is planned on the existing site, with a total of 119 car parking spaces including spaces for individuals with disabilities.
Discussions are ongoing to include a number of other services to be available from the new centre including:
- District Nursing Team
- Mental Health services
- Podiatry
- Audiology
- Health visiting
- School Nursing (including LAC and Safeguarding)
- Speech and Language Therapy
- Dietetics
- Sexual Health
- Midwifery
Timescales for the opening of 19 Hills Centre is planned for early 2025. To assist with the implementation plan, various multi-agency task and finish groups have been set up to progress the development including a management and communication group. An ‘open day’ was held in May to further promote the development and raise the profile amongst key stakeholders and leaders in Newport.
Ringland Community Hub: Newport City Council
The newly refurbished community hub offers a wide range of information and support to residents who can call in when they need to. The hub currently houses the following.
- Public library facility
- Newport Youth Academy (Educational setting)
- Newport Live Aspire Project (Alternative education)
- Various groups (i.e. History group, Flying Start parenting classes, employment training)
- Cost of living drop-in surgeries
- Flying Start
- Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) 1 day a week
- Community engagement
- Employment team
- Pick-up point for green waste bags
With the new Well-being centre physically linked to the community hub, it has created an opportunity to consider wider integration between ABUHB and NCC by collaborating on how to increase the wider community support to residents. This approach allows for the proactive promotion of a social prescribing model that will underpin the partnership, with many of the core principles of this approach evident.
This includes creating a hub network with strong links between the buildings where statutory services, third sector organisation and community groups can come together.
The combined project fully supports the five ways of working embedded in the Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 as illustrated below.
- Long Term Thinking: This project will significantly influence the longer-term delivery and sustainability of health services in Newport East
- Integration: The project has been planned and designed as a fully integrated Health and Well Being Centre
- Involvement: There has been extensive engagement with local public sector bodies, staff, users and the wider public.
- Collaboration: The project has been planned and designed with Newport City Council, Third Sector organisations, and Aneurin Bevan University Health Board staff
- Prevention: One of the key aims of the Health and Well Being model is to facilitate, via integrated working, the prevention of ill health
Newport City Homes
Newport City Homes is leading a five-year residential redevelopment of Ringland, including 158 much needed social homes and new community facilities, including a new play area and shopping facilities. The vision and plans for the site were developed after two years of consultation with residents, which began after the demolition of existing maisonettes in Ringland Centre and Cot Farm. NCH have accessed funding from a variety of sources including Cardiff Capital Region (CCR) Housing Viability Gap funding and SHG. The project has been managed in close collaboration with the council, includes weekly meetings to deal with pressing and pertinent issues.