South Gloucestershire Council<\/a> abandoned the project, the ICB has also done so and suggested that the land should be sold for housing.<\/p>\n\u201cPatients and the public are being failed on a daily basis. Both the council and BNSSG ICB have now abandoned any further interest in healthcare provision on the Frenchay site.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said campaigners were now asking Bristol NHS Trust chief executive Maria Kane and chair Ingrid Barker to provide the rehab beds the area desperately needs, with an aging population, bed-blockers who cannot leave hospital because there is nowhere for them to go for rehabilitation, and the dire shortage of health facilities in the village, including no GP.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur question to this committee and to Maria Kane and Ingrid Barker is are you going to abandon us yet again?\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
South Gloucestershire Council opposition Conservative group leader Cllr Liz Brennan (Frenchay & Downend) told the meeting: \u201cFor many, Frenchay Hospital was more than just a building, it was part of our identity and community.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut today I want to focus on the future. We must ensure that this part of South Gloucestershire does not remain a black hole to local health services.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday, Frenchay is a growing community, yet it has no local GP provision.<\/p>\n
\u201cResidents are often forced to travel outside the area to access basic healthcare services, despite many facing limited transport options, despite Frenchay having this significant and growing older population.<\/p>\n
\u201cAccess to healthcare should not depend on whether you can drive, whether you can catch a bus or whether you are physically able to travel further afield, yet for many residents in Frenchay, that is exactly the situation they face today.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not simply about convenience, it\u2019s about what is right, It\u2019s about ensuring people can access a doctor when they need one.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s about helping older residents maintain their independence and giving families confidence that healthcare is available in their own communities.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrenchay has already given so much to healthcare across our region.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe now have an opportunity to ensure that healthcare once again has a place at the heart of Frenchay.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe message to [Bristol NHS Trust] and the ICB is simple \u2013 please do not let this opportunity pass by.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a chance to create a local neighbourhood healthcare provision including key services that would serve residents for generations to come.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe need is there, the population is there, the community support is there, and the land is there. Every box is being ticked.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe question is no longer whether Frenchay needs local healthcare provision, the evidence is overwhelming.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s not look back in 20 years and regret the chances we had today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cllr Marilyn Palmer (Lib Dem, Boyd Valley) told ICB chiefs who attended the meeting: \u201cFrenchay is what we care about here.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe really do implore you not to sell off the Frenchay site for housing \u2013 keep hold of the Frenchay site for some use for healthcare.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Barker said: \u201cI know that Frenchay really matters in this community and we are very conscious of that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bristol NHS Trust chief medical officer Tim Whittlestone told the committee: \u201cThis debate over the Frenchay site has been going on for far too long.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need some clear and transparent decisions,<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is huge potential, and with Brabazon [new town] we have the opportunity to look at things differently and quite radically.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The local health authority has scrapped plans for rehab unit The former Frenchay Hospital Campaigners and councillors implored…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":520374,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[61,89151,102,2960,20005,3596,104,9550,229,9551,58846,20506,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-670036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-conservative-party","tag-frenchay","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-housing-crisis","tag-liberal-democrats","tag-nhs","tag-north-somerset","tag-politics","tag-south-gloucestershire","tag-south-gloucestershire-council","tag-southmead","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=670036"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670036\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/520374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=670036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=670036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=670036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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