SOCIAL care workers are moving into a health centre that stood empty for a year.

The Altrincham Health and Wellbeing Centre was vacant at a cost of £51,000 per week to the NHS before its first tenants moved in in November 2019.

Now the third tenants have also moved in, with the south neighbourhood team from Trafford Local Care Organisation (TLCO) based on the second floor of the Market Street building.

TLCO is the new partnership between the NHS and Trafford Council for services like district nursing and adult social care.

Seventy-seven community health and 21 adult social work staff will be moving to the centre, using it as their base for community services in Altrincham and Sale. In addition, 19 children’s social care staff will also move in.

Two GP practices on the first floor, St Johns Medical Centre and Barrington Medical Centre, began welcoming patients in November.

The relocation supports Trafford’s Covid-19 response, ensuring social care workers are at the heart of the communities they serve and can work together to put the right care packages in place for vulnerable people.

Richard Spearing, managing director of TLCO, said: “This means staff will be at the very heart of the community they serve, co-located and working together as one team so that people’s health and care needs are delivered in a co-ordinated way."

Martyn Pritchard, accountable officer at Trafford Clinical Commissioning Group added: “This is another positive step forward for the centre and for Altrincham."