Update on Leighton Buzzard Outline Business Case

Last month, Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes (BLMK) Integrated Care Board published an initial
update on the Outline Business Case for additional health and care services in Leighton Buzzard.
We are pleased today to publish our second update on work in the Town:

• Dr Chris Longstaff has been appointed co-clinical director of the Leighton Buzzard Primary
  Care Network (PCN) alongside Dr John Henderson. Dr Longstaff is covering for Dr Laura
  Lewis during her maternity leave.
• The PCN continue to develop plans for a Same Day Urgent Care Service in the Town. To help
  accommodate a growing number of staff, the ICB is working with the PCN and other partners
  to secure extra space for clinicians to see patients at Leighton Buzzard Health Centre (Bassett
  Road). This extra space is expected to be available before Christmas. The PCN’s current
  workforce plans will see full use of the Additional Role Reimbursement Scheme – the financial
  support available to recruit diverse and expert clinicians as part of a varied primary care team.
• We are pleased to confirm the recent recruitment of one Social Prescriber and a Care
  Navigator, both of whom started in October. We are further pleased to report that two new
  physiotherapists will shortly be joining the team in Leighton Buzzard alongside a new
  pharmacist who is expected to start in November.
• In September, the ICB’s Chief Transformation Officer, Estates Lead and Primary Care Team
  were pleased to present the latest on the ICB’s work in the town to Central Bedfordshire
  Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee. Discussion focussed both on plans to increase
  immediate capacity, and longer-term ambitions for the potential development of a new facility
  in the town.
• Detailed analysis and technical work are ongoing to confirm the preferred location for any new
  facility, and the services that could be delivered there. This work is considering the wealth of
  information obtained via the patient survey which the town’s Patient Participation Groups
  (PPGs) led earlier this year.
• The ICB looks forward to hosting a “focus group” style event in the town in early November at
  which representatives from the town’s PPGs, and the local voluntary and community sector,
  will further share views on current and future services. The ICB’s Chief Executive Felicity Cox
  continues to meet with Andrew Selous MP on a regular basis