Opinion: Will Leighton Buzzard be part of the next 10 year health plan
I would like to take this opportunity to share with readers a reflection of the past year since I became involved in Leighton Buzzards Health Campaign.
Joining the ranks of the seasoned campaigners who shared with me a lot of insights, passion and frustrations following the cancellation of the towns planned £12m infrastructure investment in January 2023.
Since that time, I have heard the health board pivot to a narrative of how the towns “has better primary health provision that most areas” which has been asserted in multiple business case reports partially funded by our section 106 money that have ultimately gone nowhere and a CBC executive that has done little to challenge the status quo?
You only have to look at our neighbours in Milton Keynes to see how a more effective council that can build housing estates with the required additional health structure built at the same time and ironically whilst working with the same health board as our own?
Having identified that there were over 110 ,000 outpatient appointments outside of the town in the past year – it was a hollow victory to hear at the ICB Board Meeting on the 27th June an acknowledgement that our ICB does not have full data analysis of all those appointments so could not clarify what should be their target to improve the services within town that did not require “big kit” or specialists only available at a hospital?
To us this is the fundamental question for a large town with an ageing population, no direct transport services (unless you own a car and are fit to drive) that will have to accommodate even more housing developments?
On paper the widely promoted 56,000 extra appointments for the town from the 7 new rooms at the clinic should significantly improve our situation but the level of actual delivery is still very much up in the air.
I can assure patients that the staff in all our surgeries and at the clinic are doing their very best to maximise appointment availability with the resources they receive.
Our goal for the next few months will be to monitor how well those promised improvements are being delivered and continue to challenge the Council Executive, Health Board Members about their assumptions.
And critically the BLMK ICB are scheduled to share their 10 Year Plan for Health Infrastructure with the CBC Executive in November 2025 ,we will then know where our town sits in the prioritization of projects and budget allocation, and we let you know if we are once again going to be left out in the cold for another 10 years?
For information about our campaign go to youtube and search LLHPG 202