'Aspirational' list of potential new health facilities for Central Bedfordshire submitted to government
A list of sites for new health facilities in Central Bedfordshire has been submitted to the government, although it remains an “aspirational pipeline” for now.
Campaigners and councillors have been urging the county’s health management to upgrade current facilities or provide new ones in several locations across the district.
Now the newly formed Central East integrated care board (ICB) has outlined which towns could benefit from health facilities being provided, with Leighton Buzzard, Houghton Regis, Biggleswade and Ampthill or Flitwick all included.
This list means these parts of Central Bedfordshire are viewed as suitable for potential neighbourhood health centres, which have replaced health hubs as the most likely solution to meet local population needs.
The list was unveiled at a meeting of Central Bedfordshire Council’s social care, health and housing overview and scrutiny committee today (Monday, June 15) by executive member for adult social care and Independent Ampthill councillor Mark Smith.
The actual facilities at each location would depend upon local need, according to Independent Potton councillor and CBC council leader Adam Zerny on social media.
“In addition to GPs and nurses, it could include physiotherapy, out-of-hours care, urgent care and mental health services,” he posted on Facebook.
“It was a major concern when the local NHS stopped supporting the idea of health hubs in the largest town in each area. The aim was to make it easier for everyone to access such services, and potentially keep people out of hospital.”
Liberal Democrat Leighton Linslade South councillor Emma Holland-Lindsay said in a statement: “After years of campaigning by local residents, especially the volunteer-led Leighton Linslade health provision group, it seems that local health bosses have finally woken up to the urgent need for better healthcare in our town.
“The news that Leighton Buzzard has been listed as a site for a potential new health facility is a welcome step forward, after years of disappointment for residents.
“Our town has seen huge housing growth, without the infrastructure to support it. The ball is now firmly in the court of our local Labour MP and the government to deliver the healthcare facilities the town so desperately needs.
“With thousands more homes being proposed, we must now see much less talk and more action to get a new health facility delivered as soon as possible.
“We also need urgent clarity from the ICB on what it hopes to see as part of that premises to ensure residents benefit from the full range of services on offer,” added councillor Holland-Lindsay, who chairs the committee.
“Residents are sick of grandiose promises in press releases that amount to very little on the ground to relieve the strain the local health system is under.”
In a social media post, the Central Bedfordshire Community Network Biggleswade West councillor Hayley Whitaker wrote: “The announcement talks about a ’potential new facility in the development area in land east of Biggleswade’. We need money committed, land set aside and plans approved.”
Referring to part of an ‘aspirational pipeline of Neighbourhood Health Centres (NHCs) for Central Bedfordshire’, she suggested the announcement “confirms nothing”, saying: “These neighbourhood centres can include GPs, diagnostics, community care and mental health, as well as social care, voluntary services and wider support.
“This sounds remarkably like the health hub that Biggleswade has been promised since 2013.”