A NEW era of health care will open in Kington on Monday.

It was in 1887 that the Victoria Cottage Hospital was built to serve the town and surrounding district.

Now, 116 years later it has been declared past its shelf life and a £3 million replacement, provided on land almost opposite, in the town centre.

The two are as different as chalk from cheese.

On one side of the road a Victorian style building which has provided an excellent service to the community for over a century - on the other a 21st century building expected to offer an even better one for the next.

The people of Kington fought hard to keep a hospital in the town and won the day. But they lost over the name.

No longer will Kington have a hospital - the splendid new building to replace the old Victoria has been registered as Kington Court Health and Social Care Centre.

Its opening this week sees the conclusion of policy laid down by Herefordshire Health Authority many years ago that NHS services in the county should be provided by a new acute hospital in Hereford, supported by a ring of community hospitals in each of the market towns.

The circle has now been made whole by the opening of Kington Court.

Rocky path

The road along the way was sometimes rocky and it was public opinion in Kington which saved the day when it was suggested the cottage hospital should close and not be replaced.

A strong and active local action group protested long and hard to ensure the hospital was at least upgraded, or replaced with a new one.

From 1999 it negotiated with Herefordshire Health Authority and Herefordshire Community Health Council and Herefordshire Council and gained support from other groups to reach a successful conclusion.

Kington Court is the result - built by a private health care company Blanchworth Care which owns the building, employs most of the staff and will deliver a wide range of services purchased by the PCT and Herefordshire Council social services.

Chief executive Sally Roberts said it is hoped Kington Court will play a vital role in helping to keep people out of Hereford's acute hospital in the first place or helping them to leave the hospital as soon as judged suitable to free up beds there.

Chairman of Herefordshire PCT Ted Willmott has expressed delight at the opening of the centre and thanked everyone for their hard work in helping to bring it about.

What will be

provided...

AROUND 100 staff will provide a whole range of services in, or from , Kington Court.

The first floor has been devoted to nursing or intermediate residential care and developed to top quality hotel standards.

There are no wards - replaced instead by 47 large single rooms and one double room, all with their own toilets, showers and basins and most with a view over Kington.

Herefordshire PCT will pay for 10 care beds and Herefordshire Council's social services will take up 18 for nursing, residential and reablement purposes. Blanchworth Care will keep 20 for self-funding cases.

When the centre opens patients will be transferred from the hospital across the road and it is expected 30 beds will be occupied during next week. The centre will provide a minor injuries unit and physiotherapy department. There will be clinics for opthalmology and dermatology, diabetic eye screening, foot care and a hearing aid unit.

A new NHS dental centre is on site. Health visitors and district nurses who serve the wider community will be based at Kington Court.

A well fitted kitchen will be responsible for providing 130 meals a day, and will take over the job of cooking meals for the WRVS meals on wheels service and day centres in the area.

At Kington Court there will be a day centre for 17 people, the costs paid by the council's social services.

Most of the staff at Kington Court are employed by Blanchworth Care, but some remain with the NHS and the PCT.

Living alone

A UNIQUE development at Kington Court is the inclusion of 11 apartments set aside for people who want to live independently.

A lot of interest has already been shown in the one, or two bedroom homes which allow people to live on their own but stay next door to comprehensive health care.

Those who need it can ask for help with personal care, meals or cleaning for a charge.

The cost of these homes to buy is round £100,000.

Blanchworth Care, a private company has headquarters near Dursley in Gloucestershire and has been in the care business for 20 years. It has 18 other care centres, some in Oxfordshire and Worcestershire, one in Hereford at Holmer. Chief executive Sally Roberts described Kington Court as an exciting project and the first her company had shared with statutory agencies, independent groups and volunteers. It could become a blueprint for improved service delivery on a wide scale. Mrs Roberts said it was the culmination of a lot of planning and hard work across all the agencies and was a credit to all those involved.