Devizes Treatment Centre will have to do (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Devizes Treatment Centre will have to do

10:25am Thursday 27th September 2012 in News

Any hope of a new hospital for Devizes was dashed on Monday night when a local GP said the days of sending patients to the local cottage hospital for treatment are long gone.

Dr Helen Osborn, of the Courtyard GP practice in West Lavington, was speaking during a presentation by members of the new Wilt-shire Clinical Commission-ing Group (CCG), which is due to take over from the present NHS Wiltshire primary care trust, at the meeting of Devizes Area Board at Lavington School.

Replying to a question from Tony Sedgwick of the Devizes Area Community Partner-ship, Dr Osborn said that the case for the hospital to be reborn is not there.

She added: “We are lucky to have the NHS treatment centre so close. The days when we could send patients for treatment to Devizes Hospital are long gone.

“We are currently investigating how we can look after patients as close to home as possible.”

Responding to a question from Judy Rose about the possibility of a primary care centre, mooted for two different sites in Devizes and then abandoned, incorporating the town’s three GP surgeries plus other services, Dr Osborn said there were plans to revisit the subject.

She said: “We would like time to develop these plans. It is an opportunity for dialogue with our service provider, Great Western Hospital, about what facilities we can plan in our area.

“It is simply not feasible to have a Salisbury District Hospital on our doorstep.”