A LOCAL community group has said now is the time to plan for the future of healthcare in Melksham, as the NHS faces growing strain and the town’s population continues to rise.
Melksham Neighbourhood Plan steering group is looking at the town’s healthcare with a renewed sense of urgency as more and more houses are built in the area. The group met this week with Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group to discuss its plans for the future.
The meeting came just a week after a Government report revealed that ‘bed-blocking’ is costing the NHS £900million a year nationally; one in ten hospital beds – over 8,500 every day – are occupied by someone well enough to leave if care had been organised in the community.
Steering group member Nick Westbrook said, “It’s very important that local care is improved, and if more services can be provided here in Melksham, that will benefit both the community and the health service. It’s more convenient for people to not have to travel, and it’ll take pressure off acute units and ambulance services, as well as reducing traffic in Melksham and near the hospitals.
“It’s much better to bring the services to the people, than to take the people to the services. There is more substantial housing development set to take place in Melksham and the population is growing rapidly.
“We know that local GPs and other NHS services are working hard and face huge pressures to provide excellent healthcare to local residents, but we need to make it clear that the pressures are likely to rise as more housing is planned for Melksham.
“The town’s needs are soon going to change, and now is the time for local communities, councils, and the NHS to get together and plan for the next ten years.”
The steering group is looking for potential locations for new GP and healthcare services, residential and nursing home facilities, and community centre facilities to be included in the town’s neighbourhood plan. The plan is intended to influence where Wiltshire Council allows development to take place in the future.
It is also investigating the future of Melksham Hospital, which could be at risk in future years because of ownership uncertainties, and the cost of maintaining the old buildings.
The original plans for Melksham Health and Wellbeing Centre (formerly campus) included a new GP practice, but cutbacks may have affected the space available to build one. The CCG also revealed recently that it was considering backing out of plans to build a surgery in the campus in Trowbridge, and that it was looking at other potential sites in the area.
Melksham Neighbourhood Plan steering group is an organisation dedicated to helping local people have their say on how the town is developed in the future. Find out more at www.melkshamneighbourhoodplan.org
