Join torchlight vigil next Friday to call for better healthcare in Leighton-Linslade
A poignant torchlight vigil will be held at the Market Cross next Friday (September 6) as Leighton-Linslade unites to demand better healthcare.
People are invited to the town centre just before 7pm to 'make a stand' and show Bedfordshire Luton and Milton Keynes Integrated Care Board (BLMK ICB) and Central Bedfordshire Council (CBC) the strength of feeling in the community.
The event is supporting the 'Leighton-Linslade Health Matters!' campaign, which is calling for a fourth doctors surgery and a health hub for the town.
The BLMK ICB says that it has completed an outline business case for improved healthcare in Leighton Buzzard, which will be discussed with Central Bedfordshire Council (CBC) in September. The council says it will continue "to champion the needs of the community."
Susanne Purvis, leader of the Leighton Linslade Health Matters! campaign, said: "For the silent vigil, we are asking people, young and old, to approach the Market Cross before 7pm.
"A number of our volunteers will be there for more petition signatures to be collected. The mayor, David Bligh, will give a speech of welcome, before asking attendees to be silent for one minute, while they shine their own torches or phone lights at the top of the cross, in solidarity with our request for better healthcare in the town. I will then thank everyone for their presence and ask them to leave peacefully.
"It should be brief but effective. It will not be fully dark, but hopefully dark enough."
It has been organised by the Leighton-Linslade Health Provision Group (LLHPG) and also has the backing of the town council.
Mayor Councillor David Bligh, claimed: "It's a big issue and has been for some considerable amount of time. When I first moved to Leighton-Linslade, 45 years ago or so, there were five doctors' surgeries, and a full police station for that matter, for a town of about 30,000 people.
"Now there are more or less 50,000 people, with three GP surgeries, and no police station. Clipstone Park, when that was agreed, part of the S106 money committed was to build a health facility. But the [main] funding – you have to have people to man it, etc – has to come from the ICB.
"Here, if you need any kind of specialist treatment or anything like a blood test, you have to either go to the L&D, Milton Keynes, or to the hospital in Aylesbury, which is far from satisfactory – and there are no direct buses. It's very hard if you're older, or living with disabilities."
Councillor Bligh explained that the BLMK ICB had been working on an outline business case for improved healthcare in the town, which had been due to be completed and shared in spring 2024. However, he claims it was delayed – and then delayed again due to the general election and purdah.
Councillor Bligh said: "Their argument was that there would be a new government and you don't know what they will commit to. But we still haven't had the outline business case."
Although she is unable to attend the vigil, Leighton Buzzard's Labour MP, Alex Mayer, is also supporting the campaign. She said: “I am in contact with the local ICB about their proposals for a health hub for Leighton-Linslade and have encouraged them to feed into the government’s ten-year 'Plan for Health'.
"I have raised local concerns about healthcare with government ministers directly. I will keep making the case for local residents to get the healthcare facilities they need and deserve.”
A BLMK ICB spokesman said: "Between August 2023 and May 2024, BLMK ICB completed an Outline Business Case (OBC) in relation to potential additional healthcare services in Leighton Buzzard.
"On September 9, the ICB will be talking to local councillors about the latest with this work at the Central Bedfordshire Council Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting. You can read the paper the ICB has submitted to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee here once it has been published. We are keen to keep the local community updated.
"The work to develop the OBC was triggered in part by an announcement in February 2023 by Andrew Selous, the former MP for the area, that an agreement had been reached with the (now former) government that land held by the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) at Vandyke Road in Leighton Buzzard could be sold to fund additional healthcare capacity in the town.
"The ICB had been due to publish the outputs from the Outline Business Case in May 2024. However, the announcement of the general election meant the publication had to be delayed. The ICB is now working closely with DHSC officials and other relevant local stakeholders to confirm the new government’s position on the potential sale of the Vandyke Road site. All of the options considered in the OBC are dependent on additional funding being made available ICB through the sale of the Vandyke Road site.
"In the meantime, local healthcare providers, supported by the ICB, are working hard to continue to deliver improvements to local services. This includes increasing the primary care workforce, introducing new telephone systems, and improving local healthcare premises.
"The ICB also is exploring short-term options for expanding the amount of space available in the town for seeing patients. We are also pleased to report that Pharmacy First is now available in Leighton Buzzard."
A CBC spokeswoman, said: “We are aware of the demand for healthcare services in Leighton Buzzard and will continue to champion the needs of the community.
“We are working with NHS partners, who are actively perusing options in the Leighton Buzzard area. It is the BLMK ICB that is responsible for providing primary care services and GPs."