Meeting this week aims to 'mobilise pressure' for facilities in Leighton Buzzard - including a GP surgery and policing hub

A public meeting this week aims to "mobilise public support and public pressure" for a GP surgery, 'promised policing hub', Neighbourhood Plan and health hub for Leighton Buzzard.

The meeting will take place on Wednesday (January 18) at the Library Theatre, Lake Street, at 7.30pm, and has been organised by Leighton-Linslade Town Councillor Steve Owen with the help of Councillor Russ Goodchild.

And it’s particularly poignant as last week the Bedfordshire Luton and Milton Keynes Integrated Care Board (BLMK ICB) announced that plans for the Leighton Buzzard health hub were being abandoned - for now - due to "revenue constraints".

The board said that it was "continuing to work with health and care partners" to develop proposals for Integrated Health and Care Hubs, and was working with three GP practices in Leighton Buzzard, and other health and care partners, to "develop a plan to outline how care is delivered".

Cllr Owen (Lib Dems), of Barnabas ward, said: "The meeting will aim to explain to residents why the health hub, the Eastern Leighton Buzzard new GP surgery, the promised policing hub, and the missing Neighbourhood Plan, are being blocked and by whom. And what residents can do about it.

"BLMK ICB's recent announcements show clearly that they intend to pour their limited resources into the main towns of Bedford, Luton and Milton Keynes. They are treating Leighton Buzzard with contempt. And CBC is doing what ICB tells them. Wednesday evening's meeting is about giving you a voice and forcing the powers that be – ICB, CBC, and our MP – to consult with and listen to you, on both health and policing."

Rosemarie Gunter, vice chair of Bassett Road Surgery Patient Participation Group, said: "It was really disappointing to find out about the BLMK ICB meeting with little or no notice. We've been told there's no money there but if we keep quiet, we are never going to get anything. We need provision in place, even for two years' time.

"We as a town need to get our voices heard. We need to lobby people: lobby CBC, your local MP, the Town Council, Healthwatch, BLMK ICB, health ministers - anybody that affects our health provision in Leighton Buzzard. I think 'apoplectic' is the word; the rug has been pulled."

Leighton-Linslade Town Councillor, Pat Carberry (Labour), of St George's ward, said: "The decision was in my opinion a disaster for health care provision for our town. The lack of engagement of decision makers with stakeholders has lead to flaws in principle decisions about priority on where investment is urgently required.

"Our town is geographically isolated from places of definitive care (hospitals) and yet investment is being prioritised to health hubs in close proximity to these locations. People in our town can’t get appointments for basic health checks and this leads to conditions not being diagnosed in a timely manner where it is more cost effective to treat and the prospect of successful treatment is more likely. A town the size of Leighton-Linslade deserves better."

Rosemarie added: "Are funds being used in the right place? How much has been spent on rebranding the CCG, to BLMK CCG and then to BLMK ICB? This money would have been better spent on front line health issues."