Ian Sollom MP urges Health Secretary to prioritise community healthcare infrastructure in Northstowe development

In a letter addressed to the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, Ian Sollom has pressed the Government to make good on their manifesto promise to bring healthcare to the community.

Northstowe is due to be the largest new town in the UK since Milton Keynes, is due to house nearly 25,000 residents by 2040, and took part in the NHS England’s ‘Healthy New Town’ pilot design scheme between 2016-2019.

However, a question Ian Sollom posed to the Department of Health and Social Care in December revealed that the Government “currently has no plans to meet regularly with the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Integrated Care Board and is not taking steps to issue guidance to the ICB on the construction of a town hub in Northstowe.”

In his letter, Ian welcomed the Government’s push for healthcare reform and how important this will be to the St Neots and Mid Cambridge constituency; however he warned that without the right input from NHS England, one of their flagship ‘Healthy New Towns’ will get healthcare facilities that are not fit for the future – severely undermining the Government’s plans for growth in both new and existing communities.

Closing off the letter, Ian invited the Health Secretary to visit the town and see for himself the “huge opportunity that successful delivery of Northstowe Town Hub represents.”