A Successful Delivery

Frank Whittle Partnership (FWP) has a successful track record of delivering NHS projects across the North West over the last 25 years.

The practice uses its wealth of experience in the healthcare sector to deliver projects that make a difference to people’s lives.

In this series we are looking at some of those projects and the impact they have had on the health of people across the region.

Here we look at how FWP worked to deliver the new Chorley Birth Centre which opened at the end of last year.

A successful delivery

The new Chorley Birth Centre, which opened its doors in December, is already making a huge difference for mums-to-be and their families as it welcomes new arrivals into the world.

The state-of-the-art centre was created following the demolition of Chorley and South Ribble Hospital’s old maternity unit.

The old unit opened in 1970 and over the decades welcomed thousands of babies into the world.

The new freestanding centre that has replaced it offers active birthing equipment and birthing pools in each of the birth rooms in addition to clinical assessment and education areas for expectant mums.

The FWP-designed specialist facility, which was constructed by contractor D&G, has been described as “an outstanding birth environment for women.”

Janet Cotton, Divisional Midwifery and Nursing Director at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The development of the centre has truly been a combined effort.

“I want to thank everyone from our maternity teams to our contractors for their determined efforts and contribution to make the new centre happen”.

The former birth centre at the hospital was closed in February 2019 and services were relocated temporarily until the new facility was completed.

Speaking before the opening, Sarah Cullen, Nursing, Midwifery and AHP Director at the trust, said: “After a challenging year, I am so pleased to see that Chorley Birth Centre is now completed.

This will make a huge difference for mums-to-be and their families in and around Central Lancashire.”