Response from OUH NHS Foundation Trust re Marston Medical Centre plans

We referred the concerns about parking pressure arising from the relocation of Marston Medical Centre that you raised at the June Ward Focus Meeting to the Trust, and we have received the following response from Peter Knight, Executive Director.

 

Marston Medical Centre

We have been keen to support our primary care colleagues in finding a new location for a much needed local GP practice, and so have worked with them to adapt accommodation at Arthur Sanctuary House for their use.

The Trust is very well aware of the pressures on parking on our sites, as you can imagine, but one of the key factors in getting our support for this application was the fact that there was not parking at the previous location, so there would be no expectation from patients for parking to be provided at the new location. From the practice’s perspective, the site offers very good public transport links which obviate the need for parking. There is provision for disabled parking immediately outside the building, but no other arrangements for onsite parking have been made with the practice.

Plans for our hospital sites

The Trust is working on a masterplan for all of our hospital sites with our University and healthcare partners, using experts AECOM. We are also working with planners in the City and other district councils. We will share plans at the appropriate stage of development with local councillors and local residents. We have not yet reached that level of detail.

Proposed changes to health services – please give your views

 

A public consultation to health services in the County has been launched and comments are invited on proposed changes to:

  • The way hospital beds are used and to bring more care closer to home in Oxfordshire
  • Planned care at the Horton General Hospital in Banbury (planned care includes tests and treatment planned in advance and not urgent or emergency care)
  • Acute stroke services in Oxfordshire
  • Critical care at the Horton General Hospital (critical care helps people with life-threatening or very serious injuries and illnesses)
  • Maternity services including obstetrics, Special Care Baby Units (this also affects emergency gynaecology surgery).

    How you can get involved

    The full details of our proposals are in the consultation document here or you can ask for a printed copy. Call 01865 334638 or email cscsu.talkinghealth@nhs.net. You can also pick up a copy of the consultation document from any Oxfordshire library.

    Consultation events will be held across the county. You will be able to talk to clinicians and senior NHS Leaders and share your views about these proposals. Places will be limited according to venue size so please book ahead. We really want to have a conversation with you.

    Event dates

Consultation events will be held across the county where you will be able to talk to clinicians and senior NHS leaders and share your views about these proposals. Places will be limited according to venue size, so please book to attend.

The events will be held on the following dates:

Thursday 26 January: 7pm – 9pm in Banbury Thursday 2 February: 2pm – 4pm in Chipping Norton Tuesday 7 February: 3pm – 5pm in Wantage
Thursday 9 February: 7pm – 9pm in Oxford
Monday 13 February: 10am – 12pm in Didcot Thursday 16 February: 6pm – 8pm in Witney
Tuesday 21 February: 3pm – 5pm in Bicester
Monday 27 February: 10.30am – 12.30pm in Brackley Thursday 2 March: 8pm – 10pm in Henley
Monday 6 March: 8pm – 10pm in Wallingford Thursday 16 March: 7pm – 9pm in Banbury
Thursday 23 March: 6.30pm – 8.30pm in Abingdon

You will be able to read more about the proposals by picking up information at your GP practice or at www.oxonhealthcaretransformation.nhs.uk

If you would like to:

  • Attend any of the events and book your place to receive the full details, including venues
  • Receive a hard copy of the consultation document or survey
  • Or have any queries

    Please call 01865 334638 or email cscsu.talkinghealth@nhs.net

    Headington councillors are concerned about possible changes in traffic volume to and from the John Radcliffe and Churchill sites resulting from the proposed changes and are trying to find out more.

Long awaited consultation on health services launched

A public consultation on changes to services in Oxfordshire will run from 16 January 2017 to 9 April 2017

This is the first phase of a two part consultation – phase 2 consultation will follow later this year – and the consultation focusses on the following:

  •   Changing the way we use our hospital beds and increasing care closer to home in Oxfordshire
  •   Planned care at the Horton General Hospital (planned care includes tests and treatment planned in advance and not urgent or emergency care)
  •   Acute stroke services in Oxfordshire
  •   Critical care (critical care helps people with life-threatening or very serious injuries and illnesses) at the Horton General Hospital
  •   Maternity services at the Horton General Hospital including obstetrics and the Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU).
    The full consultation document can be found here 

Closure of Richards Medical Centre, Old High Street

 

papapishu-Doctor-examining-a-patient-300px

Patients at the Richards Medical Centre have been advised that it will close at the end of the summer for a number of reasons. The decision has been prompted by the retirement of senior partner Dr Peter Saunders who has worked in Headington for 26 years.

More details are available from the practice website www.donningtonhealthcentre.nhs.uk.

The practice will be holding drop in sessions for its patients to come and discuss their concerns with staff at the Centre on:

  • Thursday 2nd June from 6.00 p.m. to 8.00 p.m.
  • Thursday 9th June from 6.00 p.m. to 8.00 p.m.

We have checked with the practice and are assured that there are spare places on patient lists at other practices in Headington, including the Manor Surgery and Bury Knowle.

Ruth will be going to the drop-in session on Thursday 2nd June at 7:30. If you are a patient, and want her to ask a question on your behalf, please get in touch.

Reaction to hospital energy project briefing

All three Headington councillors attended the briefing today and asked questions about the project.

Fibre optic cables and high voltage cables will be laid within the trench containing the energy pipes.

Roads will be closed at either end while works are being carried out, however footpaths will remain open. The timetable for road closures has been discussed with Oxfordshire County Council and are as follows:

All Saints Road 4/1/16-27/1/16

Stapleton Road 11/1/16-15/3/16

Old Road 23/2/16-13/4/16 (part: controlled by traffic lights)

Sandfield Road 1/2/16-22/4/16

London Road 9/3/16-14/4/16 (part: controlled by traffic lights)

Latimer Road 21/3/16-30/6/16

When complete road closures take place, roads will be closed from either end with no through traffic.

We gave your 20 questions (see earlier post) to the Trust’s Director of Planning and Information and he has undertaken to post the answers up on the website as Frequently Asked Questions

We are trying to arrange a public meeting at All Saints Church House, New High Street on Wednesday 9 December from 7:00-9:00pm and will confirm this shortly. The Trust and Vital Energi (the contractor) have been invited to this meeting which is being arranged with assistance from Highfield Residents’ Association and have expressed interest in attending

We remain concerned that road closures are so long, and that several main routes will be closed at the same time. We are also concerned that Access to Headington roadworks may coincide with the energy project works. At this time we have no information about alternative arrangements for parking for affected residents and there are many questions still unanswered. We note that the Trust has apologised for the lateness of its communications – we believe that much of the anxiety by residents could have been minimised if consultation had happened months ago when the road markings were first apparent.

 

County Council chooses Osler Road for new bus routes

Last week, a Headington resident trawled the internet and found timetables for bus routes about to be operated by Stagecoach to and from the hospitals. The routes include Osler Road which is unsuitable for bus traffic.  There was apparently no consultation with Osler Road or The Croft  residents, nor was any consultation held with councillors who knew the area well.

The county hurriedly sent out a press release yesterday which is now on their website (click here). This press release was tracked down by city councillors who had not been informed by the County Council.

An email was sent to us by one of the County officers yesterday evening  in response to Friday’s phone call and it states:

 I can confirm that alternatives were looked at (access via Headley Way) but the longer journey time would require more buses to maintain the frequency we are looking for and we were of the opinion that a longer than necessary route would not achieve the modal shift from using the JR car parks to that of using the extended Thornhill Park & Ride site.

Here are just some of the questions we have sent to the officers by email:

1. What consultation took place with county and city councillors and indeed residents before the choice of route was agreed?

2. Was the outcome of the public meeting Ruth organised with Osler Road residents, bus companies, county councillors and officers from City and County) taken into account when the route was decided? After that meeting, Oxford Bus Co. to their credit re-routed its service away from Osler Rd and via Headley Way

3. Were the number of near misses and incidents in Osler Road taken into account when the route was decided? (rails had to be put up on the pavement outside the Nursery because of the dangers from vehicles mounting the pavement to pass each other)

4. Were those making the decision aware that Osler Road is for the most part single lane past parked cars (some residents have no off road parking) and that the exit from the Manor Hospital also feeds into it?

5. Were those making the decision aware that buses frequently run empty along [the] stretch of road between [Headington Centre and the JR entrance in Osler Road]?

6. Were those making the decision fully aware of the damage that has been caused to Osler Road by buses and other heavy vehicles for which the road was not designed? Highways no longer replace kerbs trashed by buses and other vehicles clipping the London Road/Osler Road junction as it can’t keep up with the damage – [the] team is simply re-tarmacking it. I’m constantly reporting potholes and the road surface is crumbling, it is currently being reassessed for resurfacing. I was told by one transport planner that she felt the whole road needed rebuilding because of the constant damage.

7. Funding: will the County and Stagecoach jointly pay for the road to be re-surfaced?

In a further phone call this morning, we were informed that the contract had been competitively tendered. We were also told that repairs and maintenance of Osler Road cannot be borne by a commercial bus operator. This will clearly be a further and continuing bill for County Council taxpayers in coming years – if taxpayers’ money is diverted towards this, then other important and high priority re-surfacing projects won’t get done.

We shall update this site as more information is supplied by the County Council.  County Councillor Roz Smith is pressing the Cabinet Member Cllr Nimmo-Smith for answers. (and that’s an understatement)

It appears that the County Council now puts resident consultation very low on its priority list. We agree that bus services to hospitals are very important, and we want to keep as many vehicles out of Headington as possible because there is so much congestion. But all it needed was some consultation and a little bit of common sense to recognise that Osler Road is unsuitable for heavy traffic, and Headley Way is a viable and safer alternative.

Latest health stats for Oxford

The 2012 Health Profiles are now publicly available and can be accessed via the Health Profiles website. Health Profiles contain a summary of information on the health of the people in our local authority area and some factors that may influence their health.

You can take a look for yourself here. There is a helpful health summary for Oxford City, showing in what areas we are better or worse off than the rest of the country.

Shamefully the City’s results are poor for GCSEs achieved, and other areas where we need to improve are

  • violent crime
  • incidence of malignant melanoma
  • hospital stays for self harm
  • drug misuse
  • acute sexually transmitted diseases

New Nordic Walking Weight Loss Course comes to Headington

A new Nordic Walking Weight Loss Course is coming to Oxford. GO Active have teamed up with Bury Knowle Health Centre to launch the Nordic Walking Weight Loss Guru. The four week course is designed to help you lose weight for life, not just for Christmas!  By combining the physical activity of Nordic Walking with nutritional advice (from celebrity Nutritionist Pete Cohen) and ongoing support, the programme helps participants lead more healthy and active lifestyles. Nordic Walking has become hugely popular in Oxfordshire and with the list of benefits it is easy to see why. By utilising both the upper and lower body with walking poles Nordic Walking works and tones the whole body and burns 46 per cent more calories than ordinary walking alone. The activity is easy on the hips and knees and therefore suitable for all ages and abilities. It is also a safe and social outdoor activity to enjoy with friends and family all year round. The course starts on Friday 20 January and runs until 10 February. There is also a programme of regular Nordic Walks across the county for people to enjoy. For more information visit the GO Active website, or contact Vicki on vgalvin@oxford.gov.uk or 01865 252720.

Boxing Day Walk at Shotover Country Park

To start getting rid of those extra pounds you may have gained over Christmas, why not book yourself onto the Shotover Country Park Boxing Day Walk?  The walk takes you around one of the city’s most beautiful parks and is being organised by the Oxford Health Walks team as part of GO Active at Oxford City Council.

Local history enthusiast Mike Stranks will be leading the two mile stroll that takes in some of the most spectacular views across Oxford and along the way will be sharing some of the park’s historical tales. He says: “I’m looking forward to taking people to different parts of Shotover and explaining some of the fascinating history of the area. It should be really good fun and get people out from in front of the TV on Boxing Day.” Walking is a great way to maintain an active lifestyle with many health benefits. It is also a good way to get out exploring the areas we live in. 

GO Active offers a variety of walking activities across the county all year round ranging from weekly Health Walks to Nordic Walking courses. The Boxing Day Walk will meet on Monday 26 December at 10.45am at the Shotover car park and is free for people to attend. Everyone is welcome; however it is not suitable for wheelchairs or pushchairs. For more information visit the GO Active website: www.getoxfordshireactive.org, or contact Vicki on vgalvin@oxford.gov.uk or 01865 252720.