Healthcare in Rural Areas Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department of Health and Social Care
Roz Savage
Main Page: Roz Savage (Liberal Democrat - South Cotswolds)Department Debates - View all Roz Savage's debates with the Department of Health and Social Care
(1 day, 12 hours ago)
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Dr Roz Savage (South Cotswolds) (LD)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Huq. I thank the hon. Member for Mid Bedfordshire (Blake Stephenson) for introducing the debate and doing such a great job of painting a picture of the bigger systemic issues—as I do not have very long, I will not repeat those, but will focus instead on two specific issues that I face in my constituency. It is only fair to let the Minister know that I will ask him for a meeting at the end of the debate, because I feel I have just about exhausted all other possible avenues.
Those two examples of the system failing rural constituencies affect Cirencester community hospital and the Tolsey GP surgery in Sherston. Cirencester hospital offers vital community services to a wide rural catchment, but over recent years the hospital has seen a gradual reduction in services. It lost its minor injuries unit in 2016; blood services were removed in 2020, and the day surgical unit is now undergoing a trial closure—I am very concerned that these trial closures have a nasty habit of becoming permanent. Residents are very concerned because they have seen that pattern before.
I do not quite understand how that fits with the NHS 10-year plan, which emphasises care closer to home, when patients will potentially now have to travel considerable distances. By definition, people who need hospitals tend to be elderly, sick or parents of small children, and I do not need to repeat yet again how poor our rural public transport is. There is a great deal of public passion about this. Our petition has gathered getting on for 2,000 signatures in just a matter of days. As new housing developments arrive, the increased population of Cirencester will only increase the demand for services at that hospital.
The second example is Sherston surgery. A developer has offered to build a lovely new custom-built facility to replace the existing one, the lease for which expires at the end of the year. I have lost count of how many meetings I have had with the ICB, which has acknowledged that its toolkit is not well suited to rural areas, yet it still has not agreed to that offer. I am out of time, but I look forward to meeting the Minister in due course.