Conservative Parliamentary Candidate, Graham Stuart, has called for a meeting to address residents’ continuing concerns over healthcare provision in the South-East Holderness area if he is re-elected as MP for Beverley and Holderness.
The meeting would bring together the local Clinical Commissioning Group, NHS111, local councillors and Holderness Health – which provides GP services in the town – and would look to address the underlying causes of any present dissatisfaction.
Concerns centre around the way in which Withernsea’s 8-to-8 Centre, NHS111 and local GP services integrate; with complaints arising from some residents not being referred to the 8-to-8 centre despite their minor ailments or injuries being clinically appropriate.
Graham met with the Chief Executive of the CCG earlier this year, along with local ward councillors Lyn Healing, Paul Whitehead and Dave Tucker, in order to raise these concerns, at which the CCG attested that every complaint had been investigated thoroughly and that in the vast majority of cases, patients had been referred to the correct NHS setting.
The Withernsea 8-to-8 Centre was opened in April 2018 following the closure of the Minor Injuries Unit in the town, and was a concession in response to Graham’s campaign to highlight the desperate need for good, local healthcare provision – especially because of low levels of car ownership in Withernsea.
Commenting on the need for the meeting, Graham said: “It’s imperative that residents in and around Withernsea have good access to healthcare and that their needs aren’t pushed to one side just because they don’t live in bigger towns and cities like Beverley and Hull.
“It’s vitally important that people are directed to the 8-to-8 Centre when their injuries and illnesses are appropriate as it was an important concession when we lost the Minor Injuries Unit.
“While I was the local MP, we also agreed with the CCG that they would provide a free taxi service to the Urgent Treatment Centre in Beverley for those who need it. This needs to be asked for when you ring up NHS111 so I’d really encourage people to use this facility.
“The residents of South-East Holderness deserve as good a health service as anyone else, and it’s up to the healthcare providers to deliver this. That’s why I want to hold this meeting as soon as possible if I’m re-elected; we need to make sure that patients are being referred to the right services and that it’s done in a timely manner.”
