THE doors to one of Accrington’s new healthcare centres were opened to the public this week, giving a sneak preview of the state-of-the-art services set to benefit thousands of patients.

The press was given a guided tour of the impressive three-storey building on Monday while equipment was still being installed.

The ultra-modern £7.5M Accrington Pals centre, on Paradise Street, will begin rolling out services from Monday.

A gradual move of each service has been deliberately designed to take place over a three-week period to help patients and staff get used to the changeover.

East Lancashire Primary Care Trust chief executive David Peat said: “In effect, it’s like equipping a mini- hospital. It’s an exciting time for everyone concerned but it’s also a gigantic task and our aim is to make it go as smoothly as possibly.”

The centre will be home to the Peel Medical Practice (formerly Peel House), comprising eight GPs and around 15,000 patients.

Project co-ordinator Christine Gregory added: “We’ve done this successfully in Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale and now we want to follow suit and bring all the combined services on line in Hyndburn.”

On Monday, the centre manager and administration teams will move in to set up the “choose and book service’’ and the patient advice and liaison service moves in on Wednesday.

On Thursday and Friday, Peel House staff will set up their surgeries in the new building.

Retinal screening, the healthy heart team and dieticians will be introduced on 10 December, followed by district nurses and health visitors from Peel Medical Practice who will move into the new facilities on Tuesday.

On the Wednesday the diabetic clinic and the musculo-skeletal therapy service will move into their purpose-built suites and the podiatry team will be one of the last to move in along with occupational therapy and physiotherapy by Tuesday 18 December.

The Acorn Primary Health Centre in Blackburn Road, Accrington, will be open to the public in the New Year along with the Oak House dental education and training centre located behind the Pals centre.

Along with training, it will be the home for emergency dental service in the New Year.