Leighton Buzzard Public Update – January 2024

Update on the development of the Outline Business Case for additional health services in Leighton Buzzard

In our last update in December, we were pleased to share news of our event with local residents and community representatives to further develop the Outline Business Case. We continue to expect this to be complete in Spring 2024. Since that last update, we can report that:  

• The Primary Care Network in the town is offering additional appointments to patients to support ongoing winter pressures. These Winter Pressure Clinics are being run by nurses and paramedics with the support of the Duty Doctor. They are held daily, offering an additional 19 appointments each afternoon, and are hosted by a different surgery in the town each day (please note that patients may not be seen at their usual surgery). The aim is to provide additional access for patients and to relieve pressure on practices at this busy time of year when the NHS is also responding to industrial action.  
• The ICB continues to work with the Department of Health and Social Care regarding the release of land on Vandyke Road, which could help to fund any additional services. We have been working with local partners, national NHS colleagues, and national government  to assess the impact of the new Biodiversity Net Gain requirement, a new policy introduced by central government aimed at creating and improving natural habitats. We are grateful to local MP Andrew Selous for the conversations he has facilitated with officials at DEFRA to help us further understand the impact of this legislation, which could reduce the amount of capital funding available to support the development of new services.
• We continue to explore a range of options for improving services in the town, as part of which we have been working with partners to look closely at how we can make most effective use of the full range of existing health facilities.

Finally, the ICB would like to put on record its congratulations to the Leighton Buzzard Health Provision Group for their recent national commendation for their work surveying the patients of the Town to support the development of the Outline Business Case. Although we know we cannot meet every expectation with limited resources, the survey has provided valuable insight. The ICB will continue to work with residents and partners to respond to population growth and to support good access to health services.

BLMK Integrated Care Board
12 January 2024