Leighton Buzzard – Statement

Between August 2023 and May 2024, BLMK ICB (Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Integrated Care Board) completed an Outline Business Case (OBC) in relation to potential additional healthcare services in Leighton Buzzard.

On 09 September, the ICB will be talking to local councillors about the latest with this work at the Central Bedfordshire Council Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting. You can read the paper the ICB has submitted to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee here once it has been published. We are keen to keep the local community updated.

The work to develop the OBC was triggered in part by an announcement in February 2023 by Andrew Selous, the former MP for the area, that an agreement had been reached with the (now former) Government that land held by the Department for Health & Social Care (DHSC) at Vandyke Road in Leighton Buzzard could be sold to fund additional healthcare capacity in the town.

The ICB had been due to publish the outputs from the Outline Business Case in May 2024. However, the announcement of the General Election meant the publication had to be delayed. The ICB is now working closely with DHSC officials and other relevant local stakeholders to confirm the new Government’s position on the potential sale of the Vandyke Road site. All of the options considered in the OBC are dependent on additional funding being made available ICB through the sale of the Vandyke Road site.

In the meantime, local healthcare providers, supported by the ICB, are working hard to continue to deliver improvements to local services. This includes increasing the primary care workforce, introducing new telephone systems, and improving local healthcare premises.

The ICB also is exploring short-term options for expanding the amount of space available in the town for seeing patients.

We are also pleased to report that Pharmacy First is now available in Leighton Buzzard. Seven local pharmacies are participating and 770 consultations have been completed between January and June 2024.

BLMK Integrated Care Board

August 2024