Comprehensive health plan will be top priority

AS a recently elected councillor, I have placed the provision of a comprehensive plan for the delivery of health services to the residents of Rutland at the top of my priorities.

A health plan for the county has been proposed for at least five years, to my knowledge.

It is therefore only right that the process that is currently under way to deliver a place-led plan does not simply repeat the lack of engagement and public consultation experienced by Rutland people in the consideration of the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust reconfiguration plans.

This superficial approach continues to be evidenced through the recent meetings held by the Rutland Health and Wellbeing Board in September and October to consider a three-year place-led plan for Rutland.

The proposed timescale of three years ears does not allow proper consideration of long-term population forecasts, future housing plans, nor the necessary alignment of services following the change in health service provision in Leicester.

Our plan should therefore cover a minimum of five years and take account of the best available population forecast.

We should note that the city of Leicester has come to the same conclusion and altered its time frame to that suggested.

As the Rutland Health Consortium has highlighted, and as is evidenced by the recently published Leicester City Health Plan, much greater detail must be provided within any draft plan for Rutland if public consultation is to be meaningful and the right solutions delivered.

The plan must specifically address all of the future health services for our county over the next decade and to suggest it only relates to services provided within Rutland is simply an incorrect reading of NHS guidance.

I therefore believe that it would be appropriate for Rutland County Council to reset the terms of reference for the production of a health plan and defer any further public consultation until a properly detailed draft can be presented to residents for their review and input.

Only by adopting this approach can all political parties deliver a properly considered, long-term place-led plan for our residents.

Councillor Leah Toseland, Oakham