NHS Reforms: Calls for more facilities and services across Maidenhead and Windsor

Calls to re-open St Mark's walk-in centre and provide more Royal Borough services have been made in light of the NHS reforms announcement.

This month, Prime Minister Keir Starmer set out plans to tackle waiting lists by providing more appointments and faster treatment.  

The Elective Reform Plan by NHS England outlines an approach to meeting the 18-week referral to treatment target by the end of this Parliament.  

Several plans to achieve this include opening Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs) for 12 hours, seven days a week, increasing the availability of same-day tests and consultations and expanding the range of tests available at CDCs. 

Other plans include allowing GPs to direct patients for diagnostic testing, to get tests quicker.   

A total of 14 new surgical hubs will be created in existing hospitals by June and three others will be expanded, with more expected over the coming years. 

Cllr Catherine Del Campo, cabinet member for health in the Royal Borough, Maidenhead MP Josh Reynolds and Windsor MP Jack Rankin hope the reforms can help drive plans for more services and facilities.

Cllr Del Campo said: “I welcome the news that the government intends to tackle the appointments backlog.  

“I will be making the case for investment in St Mark’s in terms of its buildings and the services it offers.”

She and Mr Reynolds are calling for the Government to open a seven-day diagnostic centre at St Mark’s Hospital and reopen the walk-in urgent care centre.  

This week Parliament, Mr Reynolds asked health secretary Wes Streeting if he would meet with him to discuss how they can work together to reopen the walk-in centre.

Mr Reynolds was told the configuration of local services was a matter for local NHS leaders to liaise with them in the first instance.

He and Cllr Del Campo also call for NHS Frimley to re-launch plans to open a new health hub in Reform Road.  

Mr Reynolds said: “If we want to tackle waiting lists and get more people to see their GP, the local NHS trust cancelling the Reform Road project is not helpful at all – that's counter-productive.”

Last week, in a written question to the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC), Mr Reynolds asked if Mr Streeting would make it his policy to open one of the new CDCs at St Mark’s Hospital.  

The answer instead outlined details about the new Slough CDC, currently under construction, and stated that where feasible, the NHS ‘has and will endeavour to locate CDCs in the community rather than in acute settings’.  

Mr Reynolds also raised concerns over the December figures for NHS Frimley ICB which highlighted that 2,490 patients faced a wait of 12 hours or longer.

He also called for a long-term plan to support community pharmacies.  

The pair have called for the Government to ‘urgently’ reform social care because it is ‘impossible to fix one without fixing the other’, Cllr Del Campo added. 

Windsor MP Jack Rankin, said: “People locally want to see more GP surgeries to meet the demand of more homes being built, like in Sunninghill and Langley – as well as see the long-awaited Sunningdale Health Hub finally delivered, offering more GP appointments, minor procedures, mental health services, physiotherapy and community-based maternity services. 

“What my constituents care about most is better services on the ground – the government must recognise this.”

In a previous statement, the DHSC said immediate actions have been set out on social care and the Casey Commission will publish its first report next year.

Amanda Pritchard, NHS chief executive, said: “The radical reforms in this plan will not only allow us to deliver millions more tests, appointments and operations but do things differently too – boosting convenience and putting more power in the hands of patients, especially through the NHS app.”

Mr Streeting said: “Our Plan for Change set an ambitious target to cut maximum wait times from 18 months to 18 weeks, and we will achieve it by bringing care closer to home and give patients more choice over their treatment.”

NHS Frimley is waiting for more details on the announcements, including associated funding and guidance.

The DHSC has been contacted for further comment.