He only came in to drop his daughter at gymnastics. It ended up saving his life
26.12.2023 - 07:19
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
Across the road from one of the most iconic stadiums in Greater Manchester, there is life-saving work going on under the radar.
In the shadow of the DW Stadium in Wigan sits Robin Park leisure centre, where hundreds have been frequenting in order to get basic health checks they normally do not have time to do. The owners of Wigan Athletic and Wigan Warriors sports teams have teamed up with the council and the Primary Care Network to create a space they hope will improve the health of an entire borough.
Coun Chris Ready, one of the leading figures behind the project, has already highlighted how this has ‘saved the life’ of one man who was quickly ushered to hospital after his sky-high blood pressure was revealed.
READ MORE: Today's top Manchester Evening News stories
READ MORE: Join the FREE Manchester Evening News WhatsApp community
The ‘Pivot to Wellbeing’ scheme is putting a major focus on prevention through basic health checks and helping Wiganers create a positive lifestyle change. The NHS is facing increasing demand and with the emergence of new primary care functions, leisure centres were viewed as a feasible way to support this additional demand.
Currently four previously unused rooms have been transformed into “pivot rooms” for the delivery of health services, with health providers using the rooms as a base for their service delivery.
Anne Humphreys, quality nurse manager who heads up the team running the health checks expressed her shock at seeing the huge number of people that came to their first session back in April.
“We had to do crowd control, but people loved it because it was on Saturday morning and their children were here as well,” Anne said. “They dropped them off for gymnastics or football, so