Opposite the churches and Kwikfit on Pembroke Road is the mysterious sounding Confederation at the Pembroke Centre. The sign on the wall by the door explains only that it was opened by Roy Castle in 1992. It’s obviously something to do with Star Trek the NHS, but what exactly is it, and how can you make an appointment there?
It’s not a typical GP surgery that you register with, and you don’t make an appointment there yourself. It’s a hub that hosts various NHS services, often as part of the “Extended Access Service” for patients registered with GP practices in the London Borough of Hillingdon. This means it can provide appointments outside of normal GP hours (evenings and weekends) and provides locally some services that your own GP practice doesn’t – saving you either a wait, or a journey (or both) to somewhere further away.
You may be sent there for a test or an out-of-hours appointment by your GP or another part of the NHS. Services for which you might be sent to Pembroke Health Centre include:
- Extended Access GP Appointments: Appointments with Doctors, Nurses, Advanced Nurse Practitioners, Healthcare Assistants, Phlebotomists, Pharmacists, and others for patients of Hillingdon GP practices, often available evenings and weekends. These can cover things like general medication reviews, blood pressure checks, asthma reviews, cervical smears, blood tests, and more.
- Harrow Early Intervention Service (EIS): This service is for people aged 14 to 35 who are experiencing their first episode of psychosis. It provides assessment, treatment, and support for individuals and their families.
- Connect Health: This service provides musculoskeletal (MSK) care, which includes physiotherapy and related support for bone, muscle, and nerve pain or injury. They offer appointments and digital tools for self-assessment and care.
- Paediatric Clinic: There’s also a paediatric clinic running at the Pembroke Centre, aimed at reducing pressure on A&E and providing shorter referral times for children.
Essentially, Pembroke Health Centre functions as a key location for delivering a range of community and mental health services, as well as extended hours primary care appointments, for residents in the Hillingdon area.
Roy Castle?!
Aside from being a big name, it’s not as random as it sounds! Roy Castle was diagnosed with lung cancer in early 1992, and was told that his chances of recovery were slim and that it was unlikely that he would live for more than six months. He underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy and went into remission later that year.
A non-smoker, he blamed his illness on passive smoking during his years of playing the trumpet in smoky jazz clubs. In late 1993, Castle announced that his illness had returned, and underwent a second round of treatment. Over the spring and summer of 1994, in spite of his deteriorating health, he carried out the high-profile Tour of Hope to raise funds for the erection of the building that would become the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation, which is the only British charity dedicated solely to defeating lung cancer.
During and shortly after Castle’s illness, many smoke-free restaurants and cafes were awarded the Roy Castle Clean Air Award to denote their adherence to a smoke-free regime (which at that time was voluntary).
He died at his home in Gerrards Cross on the morning of 2 September 1994, two days after his 62nd birthday. A week before his death he was made a freeman of the City of Liverpool. His funeral service took place on 8 September 1994 in Amersham.
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