Bedford Borough misses out on GPs due to lack of funding for surgeries

The Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Integrated Care Board (BLMK ICB) have admitted that the BLMK area has missed out on eight trainee GPs because the area, including Bedford Borough, lacks sufficient space within its GP estate. Some of the proposed expansions to GP provisions in Wootton, Wixams, Shortstown, Harrold and Queen's Park will now not be funded because of government infrastructure policy that is failing Bedford Borough residents.

Bedford Borough Liberal Democrats are asking the government to prioritise infrastructure, capital funding and revenue expenditure for GP estates so local residents' health needs can be met. They are also demanding that new GP surgeries are legally prioritised and approved with the NHS, before house building commences on new estates. This is so pressure can be released on NHS acute care services by providing more primary care services within Bedford Borough and the BLMK area.

Mayor Dave Hodgson said "As we have all seen and experienced, there is a big need for GPs in the Borough. There has been a large growth in population and, at best, a stagnation of our health service facilities.

"Local GPs have told me that we are losing good doctors because they haven't got the space to provide services to relieve pressure on the overall health system. We must press across the board to make sure we get proper GP estate space.

"The facts are that we need more GPs, and here was an opportunity to get eight more, but they've not got anywhere for them to work - that cannot be right."

In 2019 Bedford Borough Council jointly funded a study with the NHS to examine the amount of space within the Borough's GP estate. It found that the Borough was 40% underprovided for. Since then there have been a number of schemes for new facilities planned to be finished, however many are yet to see any progress at all.

Councillor Dean Crofts, Portfolio Holder for Adults Services, said "Every ICB, including BLMK, needs capital and revenue funding for GP estate space committed from the government so that these local GP facilities can be funded and built. When our hospitals are under so much pressure, that leads on to social care being under pressure as well.

"People can't get out of hospital, people are having to go to A&E because they can't get access to a GP and we've got a government that does not prioritise capital or revenue spending on increasing GP space and access."

Mayor Dave Hodgson said "I am calling for a fair deal for Bedford Borough from the government. We need the Treasury to release cash so that these facilities can be built and relieve pressure on our hard-working doctors and nurses."

You can sign Bedford Borough Liberal Democrats' petition calling for a fair deal for Bedford Borough with an increase in the number of GPs in our area to provide improved access for those in need at https://bedfordlibdems.org.uk/GPShortage