New Offices for Craigavon CAB
Portadown Health and Care Centre
Craigavon District CAB has relocated its busy Portadown office to brand new premises located within the recently completed and state of the art Portadown Health and Care Centre.
The new bureau office is now located adjacent to the main entrance on the ground floor of the centre, accessed from Meadow Lane, within a hugely impressive three story building which delivers a one-stop shop for health care provision along with associated support services that includes advice and information. This provides the bureau with a very visible and high profile presence in a new £16 million flagship building. In addition to the new CAB office services provided within the centre include 8 GP practices, x-ray, orthopaedics, a dental unit, rehabilitation facilities, a café and a non-dispensing pharmacy service which will also dispense advice and support for medication.
This model of integrated health care and advice provision, based upon partnership working between a local health trust and Citizens Advice, is an extension of the philosophy already successfully seen in Belfast and demonstrates the real benefits that arise from collaborative working.
As part of the move the bureau has taken the opportunity to restructure the way in which they handle telephone enquiries from clients in Lurgan and Portadown as well as developing a new customer service approach to improve overall service delivery. A single telephone advice line number will now allow callers to select from a number of available options including talking with a telephone adviser, following up on an existing problem and making an appointment to be seen at either of the bureau's main offices.
Speaking about the move Jennifer Fearon, Manager of Craigavon and District CAB, said, "After all the planning, waiting and hard work that has gone into making this move a reality we are delighted to be located in such a modern and accessible building and to be able to work in close partnership with the Trust. The challenge for us now is to be able to meet what is likely to be an increased demand for our services at a very difficult time when resources are under increasing pressure. I am sure that with our new telephone approach we will be able to deal with more clients more effectively, thus helping to improve the lives of many people living within the Craigavon area."
Siobhan Edgar, Ann Rees and Jennifer Fearon, at the new CAB premises in Portadown Health and Care Centre
