Holding the NHS to Account on Community-Based Care

The Government has recently announced a shift in policy towards delivering more healthcare in the community, with services promised to be closer to where people live. While this is a welcome ambition in principle, residents in Gipping Valley have every right to ask how this will translate into real improvements on the ground.

Over the past four years, healthcare provision locally has gone backwards. Access to GPs has become more difficult, local services have been reduced, and many residents are being forced to travel further to meet even their most basic healthcare needs. Understandably, people are sceptical about whether this policy change will deliver meaningful results.

That is why I have written to the Chief Executive of the NHS Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board (ICB), asking for clarity on:

• What specific plans are in place to implement this new community-based care model in Suffolk.

• How these plans will reverse the decline in provision and improve outcomes for my residents.

• Whether the ICB will actively explore opportunities to use local sites, such as the former St John Ambulance building in Bramford, to create hubs for community healthcare.

We have a real opportunity to bring care back closer to our communities – but this will only happen if the ICB and Government match words with action. I will continue to push for answers and advocate for the healthcare services our residents deserve.