We provide community and mental health services for everyone in Doncaster and have confirmed that we have signed a lease to re-develop and occupy the Waterdale building near to the Civic Centre, ending almost eighteen months of uncertainty.
The lease will allow us to work with health partners to create the city’s first neighbourhood centre, under the Government’s Ten-Year Plan for health, published in 2025. The intention is for services to be open during 2027, after redevelopment of the building during 2026.
Anthony Fitzgerald, South Yorkshire Integrated Case Board Place Director for Doncaster, welcomed the news, saying:
“This is an exciting first step in beginning to move care closer to our communities. I congratulate RDaSH on their work to make this a reality, supporting the City Council with their ambition to bring regeneration to the centre of Doncaster (1).”
The chair of RDaSH Board of Directors, Kathryn Lavery, explained:
“The Waterdale development is a big investment for us, not just of money or time, but in commitment to redesigning services to fit the growing needs of those we serve. We have the shortest wait times now in the NHS in England (2), but we want to make sure everyone who needs support has access to it through the local voluntary sector, our services, or partners in primary care.”
Champion Solesi, the chair of the RDaSH Youth Advisory Forum, and a member of the Council of Governors (3), said:
“I know the trust is honest and open about the work they still need to do to listen and act on the voices of children and young people locally. This Waterdale project is a chance to make that a reality, working with us to shape services and design a space we value and can use. It is an exciting step forward for my city.”
(1): The Waterdale development has received capital investment from RDaSH, NHS England and Doncaster City Council, with funds committed to a total fitout of the space to ensure it is appropriate for high quality healthcare “on the high street”.
(2): Rotherham, Doncaster, and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust committed, in 2023, to a maximum waiting time of four weeks for care from April 2026. Apart from neurodiversity services, this promise has been met, and child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS) was the first to meet this promise: making it the shortest wait service for young people’s mental health in the country. Waiting times for RDaSH services are up to date monthly on their website.
(3): The Council of Governors helps to hold the Board of RDaSH to account on behalf of local people: unusually within the wider NHS a number of governors are under the age of 18, as the trust, which provides services to all ages locally, looks to ensure that it listens to everyone who needs and uses trust health services.
Published: April 01, 2026
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