Pennine GP Alliance (PGPA) has secured a new three-year contract for its Same Day Children’s Hubs, marking a significant milestone in the continued development of urgent and same-day care services for local families.
This latest success follows the award of a three-year contract for PGPA’s Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI) hubs in 2025. With the Same Day Children’s Hubs contract awarded in 2026, PGPA now has secured delivery of two key same-day care services, with ARI hubs running through to 2028 and Children’s Hubs through to 2029. Together, these contracts strengthen PGPA’s role in delivering accessible, neighbourhood based urgent care across Calderdale.
The Same Day Children’s Hubs were first introduced in December 2025 to provide fast, safe, same-day assessment and treatment for children with acute illness. The service is designed to support families by ensuring children can be assessed quickly and appropriately in a local, primary care setting.
Each of Calderdale’s five Primary Care Networks (PCNs) hosts a hub, which sees children presenting with a range of acute symptoms including cough, sore throat and earache; mild rashes or eczema flare ups; mild abdominal pain, vomiting or diarrhoea; mild asthma exacerbations; urinary tract infections; and general unwellness. Appointments are booked via GP practices, ensuring children are seen promptly by experienced clinicians in a calm and appropriate environment.
From December 2025-April 2026 6,000 appointments were utilised by parents/carers with concerns about their child.
Under the new contract, the service will continue to run annually from September to April, aligning with peak seasonal demand. It will provide more than 15,000 additional appointments each year, increasing local capacity and improving access to timely care for families across Calderdale.
The model builds on the established success of PGPA’s ARI hubs, which continue to deliver high quality respiratory care for adults and have demonstrated significant impact in supporting system wide demand.
As with the ARI service, the Children’s Hubs use rapid Point of Care Testing (POCT) to support clinical decision making for respiratory symptoms. This finger prick blood test enables clinicians to quickly assess whether infection is likely viral or bacterial, supporting safe, evidence-based treatment and helping to reduce unnecessary antibiotic prescribing.
The hubs also support wider urgent care pathways. Calderdale Royal Hospital’s Emergency Department can refer appropriate patients directly into the service, helping to reduce waiting times and ensure children are managed in the most appropriate setting.
The Same Day Children’s Hubs are funded by NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB), the NHS organisation responsible for planning and commissioning health services for local populations to ensure services are safe, effective, and meet local need. Securing a further three-year contract represents a key step in PGPA’s continued commitment to strengthening access to high quality care within local neighbourhoods. Alongside the ARI hubs contract awarded in 2025, this provides long-term stability for two essential services, ensuring families across Calderdale can continue to access timely, effective care closer to home.
Dr Asif Yaseen, Local GP and Medical Director at Pennine GP Alliance, said:
“This three-year contract provides important stability for both our Children’s Hubs and ARI hubs. It strengthens our ability to manage same-day demand in primary care and supports more consistent patient flow across urgent and emergency care services.”
Emergency Department Consultant at Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust, Dr Jack Long, said:
“The introduction of Children’s Hubs and ARI hubs this past winter has supported our Emergency Department at Calderdale by helping people get care and treatment for a range of common conditions quicker, in the most appropriate place. Hubs like these can help reduce pressure on our Emergency Departments, and lead to patients seeing the right service, closer to home in the community.”
Debbie Graham, Director of Strategy and Acute Care, NHS West Yorkshire ICB said:
“PGPA has established itself as a trusted and effective partner in delivering high quality neighbourhood-based services in Calderdale. The Same Day Children’s Hub has proved successful in providing resilience for our GP Practices and our health system over busy winter months. The service has supported families with accessible, responsive care when they need it most.”
Find out more about the PGPA Same Day Children’s Hubs here.
Find our more about PGPA Acute Respiratory Hubs here.