Didcot MP calls for better health care amid housing plans

Great Western Park, a 3,300-home estate in Didcot is due to be finished this year, and was initially granted planning permission in 2008, with a new GP surgery included.

The planning permission for the new surgery dates back about 10 years but there have been repeated delays.

READ MORE: Delayed GP surgery gets new developer

Earlier this month, Woodlands Medical Centre appointed London-based Apsley Henley Med Ltd as the new developer after the previous developer pulled out.

Didcot and Wantage MP Olly Glover has linked up with other local Liberal Democrat MPs to push for greater guarantees for health services linked to new housing estates.

At the same time, he has pointed out the lack of a minor injuries unit in Didcot.

Working with other Liberal Democrat MPs in Oxfordshire, Layla Moran, Charlie Maynard, Calum Miller and Freddie van Mierlo, Mr Glover is calling for a ‘GP Guarantee’ on new developments.

The Lib Dem MPs want new or expanded GP surgeries to be up and running in areas of new development as soon as the first homes are sold.

This supports their campaign to ensure everyone can get an appointment within seven days or 24 hours if urgent.

Developers would be required to not only fund new facilities but to guarantee the GP surgery contract (or the cost of salaried GPs) while new residents are still moving in. This would ensure new residents don’t have to turn to over-stretched existing GPs.  

Didcot and Wantage MP Olly Glover (Image: Contributed)

Mr Glover said in a joint statement with the other Oxfordshire Lib Dem MPs: “GP surgeries are promised but not delivered.

“Councils are securing commitments from developers and the Integrated Care Board for new surgeries, but they do not have the powers needed to ensure health infrastructure comes before the homes are occupied.”

“That’s why we are launching this campaign to get our local NHS back on track, by building and delivering the services our communities need and giving local councils and communities the power to ensure new homes always go hand in hand with more GPs.”

Didcot West county councillor, Ian Snowdon, launched a petition calling for the GP surgery to open at Great Western Park as soon as possible and it attracted thousands of signatures online.

Mr Glover said the lack of a minor injuries unit for a town the size of Didcot also needed addressing.

The issue was raised by the lobby group Didcot Against Austerity in 2023.

While Abingdon has a minor injuries unit at Abingdon Community Hospital, Didcot does not have one and locals instead have to travel to Abingdon or the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.

There are an estimated 34,000 people living in Didcot and an estimated 37,000 people living in Abingdon.

Great Western Park in Didcot (Image: Oxford Mail)

Mr Glover added a minor injuries unit in Didcot would reduce the need for people to travel to Abingdon, and would relieve pressure on the John Radcliffe Hospital’s accident and emergency department.

He said: “The need for more health services in Didcot is abundantly clear.

“I have been campaigning to get the GP surgery open on Great Western Park, but this is just one example of the growing demand for infrastructure to support people moving to new developments, as well as those in existing homes locally.”

Mr Glover said the Government’s new 10-year plan for the NHS did not specifically mention minor injuries units.