Council backs plans for controversial health hub scheme set to scrap hospital beds in the county

Bucks County Council’s health and social care select committee met this morning (May 22) to quiz health bosses on the pilot for the second time, after it came to the end of its one year trial.

Last year the Bucks Healthcare Trust (BHT) invested £1 million into creating the hubs at Marlow Hospital in Victoria Road and Thame Community Hospital in East Street in a bid to bring care closer to people’s homes.

The scheme has proved controversial after it was revealed inpatient beds at the hospitals would not be used during the pilot – and now the 20 beds look set to be scrapped altogether.

However members of the select committee agreed they were happy with the way the scheme is progressing, but insisted they will meet with health bosses every six months in order to keep a close eye on plans.

Committee chair, Brian Roberts, had a number of recommendations and urged the health team to engage with the community more, improve transport options to the hubs and recruit more GPs to the scheme before it is rolled out across the county.

He said: “You have got the experience of the last 12 months. Use that and get the community on side. People don’t like change. Let’s take them with us.”

Chief executive at BHT, Neil Macdonald, accepted residents across Bucks are concerned about the loss of hospital beds – however he reiterated that the space will be used to “provide more care for people at a larger scale”.

He said: “We really understand those concerns, and it is challenging, but the whole premise of this is we think we can use those facilities to provide more care for people at a larger scale.

“There are a variety of complicated factors, we talked about low staffing levels, so we understand the concerns.”

The next step will be to work towards design plans for the expansion of the community hub across the county, according to Mr Macdonald, which are expected to be presented to the committee in September.