TWO campaigners from Marlow have voiced their support for a new ‘super hospital’ to serve the Thames Valley – although it could mean Wycombe loses more acute services.

About 60 people attended a meeting in Bracknell on Tuesday night, where an MP’s proposals for a ‘Royal Thames Valley Hospital’ were given a mixed reaction.

Dr Phillip Lee, Conservative MP for Bracknell, presented his arguments for a new hospital to be built at Junction 8/9 of the M4 motorway - about 20 minutes drive from High Wycombe along the A404 dual-carriageway (see related links).

He accepted the plan would be controversial, as the project would involve parts of hospital sites being sold off to developers, including Wycombe and Wexham Park.

It also recommends the complete closure of Heatherwood Hospital in Ascot - which brought criticism from some in the audience.

But two hardened Wycombe Hospital campaigners urged the critics to put local loyalties aside and back the idea.

John Barlow and Terry Price, both from Marlow, warned more services would gradually be withdrawn from Heatherwood anyway - and called for Bracknell residents to join a regional campaign to build support for the radical plans.

Mr Barlow, who is also secretary of the Wycombe-based Save Our Hospital Services group, said: "I’ve campaigned to try and stop the dilution of services from our local hospital and that campaign has been lost again and again....

"Understandably there’s going to be misgivings. But we’ve all got an opportunity here and they don’t come along very often."

Mr Price told the meeting: "Yes we have a vested interest, but so have you, and you must get mobilised to get this done."

Dr Lee admitted his stance on Heatherwood Hospital could be "politically difficult for me", but he called on MPs to be more honest about the challenges facing the NHS, rather than "defending hospitals they really shouldn’t be defending".

He said the best way for hospitals to respond to increasing demand for services, an ageing population, rising costs and reduced budgets is to further centralise specialist services, with more non-specialist care being done in the community.

There are too many hospitals in the region, with too many of the buildings and facilities ‘unfit for purpose’, he added.

He criticised the "muddle through" approach taken over several decades, saying there has been a lack of "over-riding strategic vision" for healthcare in the region.

In the 1980s the NHS commissioned a report from consulting firm Deloitte, which came up with similar proposals to him - but the report was never acted on, Dr Lee said.

He argues that "vested interests and political motives" within the region mean a decision should be made by the Department of Health.

The project would cost in the region of £750 million, he estimates, of which about a third would go towards creating improved community facilities at sites such as Wycombe.

Dr Lee added: "It seems a big figure but it really isn’t. It’s a very little amount when you’re spending over £2 billion a week on the National Health Service."

Much of the cost could be raised by selling parts of existing hospital sites, he said. The meeting heard the new hospital would have to have good transport links, including new bus services.

Dr Lee is set to meet leading GPs and is in the process of securing a debate in the House of Commons on the issue of hospital centralisation. He is also planning hold public meetings in High Wycombe and Marlow to present his plans.

The official stance of the Save Our Hospital Services Group, chaired by BFP editor Steve Cohen, is to keep an interested watch on Dr Lee’s proposals.

Mr Cohen said: “The ideas are of great interest to us and I have an open mind about them because this could be a great opportunity given the geography of Dr Lee’s super hospital - but I for one would not welcome any further loss of services at Wycombe Hospital.”

See related links for the NHS response to the proposals.

Dr Lee with John Barlow (left) and Terry Price

Bucks Free Press: Dr Lee