THERE were smiles all round in Devizes last week when it was announced that the town is to get an urgent care centre, but those with long memories celebrated in somewhat muted tones.

There are still worries that, after decades of disappointment and delay, something could still go wrong and the time for real joy will be when the new centre opens in Marshall Road.

MP Claire Perry has spoken of the work she has done behind the scenes to get the Clinical Commissioning Group to commit to the health centre, which, apart from inpatient beds, will have most of the services provided by Devizes Hospital it its heyday. She said: “Now we just want it built.”

Devizes town councillor Judy Rose is also wary about getting too excited. She was secretary of DASH2 – Devizes Action to Save our Hospital 2 – from 2003 and the announcement spurred her to delve through her records of the past 12 years.

She is pleased about the announcement but said: “It is cause for some cautious celebration, but I won’t be breaking open the champagne till the building actually appears.”

Last week those who gathered outside the Devizes Treatment Centre fought to remember the exact dates of landmark meetings but now Mrs Rose has done some research.

She said: “The public meeting held in the Corn Exchange at which DASH2 was revived was held by Devizes Guardians on March 25, 2003, in the Corn Exchange. At that meeting the then mayor, Catherine Brown, announced the re-creation of DASH as DASH2 to fight any proposed closures, in particular the maternity unit. I became secretary to the group, which consisted largely of councillors and was chaired by the mayor of the day.

“The regularly attending members were myself, Paula and Charles Winchcombe, Margaret and Ray Taylor, Jane Burton, Dave Churchill, John Leighton, Tony Duck, Peter Evans, Jo Howes, Dr James Flood, Catherine Brown, Pat Rugg, Chris Carver, Don Jones and Tony Goldsmith and the mayor of the day.

“Prior to DASH2, the previous body DASH began in the early 1990s. Margaret and Ray Taylor were very involved with that, as was fellow town councillor John Perrott, who was mayor during the main period of the campaign, and whom I famously recall demanding answers about our promised new hospital from MP Michael Ancram during a hustings at the 1992 election campaign. He didn’t get any, as was the case when we took our petition about the maternity unit closure to Downing Street on March 29, 2004.

“Whatever else may be said of the NHS reforms, as far as Devizes is concerned the change from PCT to the GP-led CCG has so far been beneficial, and looks like that will remain the status quo in the future.

“The health service will offer 8am-8pm seven-day opening and having somewhere local to go for minor injuries and ailments will be a boon for one of the most remote communities in Wiltshire.

“Add in all the current facilities at the hospital site along with access to X-ray, and we'll have almost all that we asked for, though beds and maternity are still missing.", and realistically are both a bit of a forlorn hope, but at this juncture, I believe we can live with that.”

The Gazette was at the forefront of the battle to save Devizes Maternity Unit and the inpatient care at Devizes Hospital. We helped organise a march for the maternity unit in February 2003 and also campaigned for the hospital in 2007. Both closed in that year.