14 september 2017 oxfordshire guardian witney

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Very little progress on the future of closed GP centre By George Welch

CAMPAIGNERS fighting for the reopening of a doctor’s surgery have blasted a health body for ‘dragging its feet’ over an ‘urgent’ care plan to be implemented in the Witney area. Brenda Churchill, who is leading the campaign to rescue Deer Park Medical Centre, said she has ‘no confidence’ in the Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group to do its job. The OCCG was ordered in July by an independent report to carry out a ‘comprehensive’ health plan within six months after failing to ‘effectively engage’ with patients at the Edington Square surgery. Three months in and the health body met the Deer Park Campaign Group (DPCG), Witney MP Robert Courts, Healthwatch and the West Oxfordshire PPG for the first time on Friday. Witney deputy town mayor and DPCG chair Cllr Churchill said: “We’ve got quite a lot of concerns that came out of the meeting. “We were hoping to find out whether they had started the report, who was going to oversee the report and how far they had got with talking to people. We never got any of that – there’s been very little progress. “We’ve had one meeting with them and it’s three months into the six months. The wheels aren’t even in motion yet.” However, the OCCG said it “is

already taking forward analysis, engagement and forward planning for primary care services in and around Witney”, with plans to be published in early December. It added that patient and stakeholder engagement “is an integral part of this process” and plans would be tested with patient groups, local councillors and the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC). Council documents have also revealed NHS England has approached two companies to independently review the final OCCG plan. But Cllr Churchill believes the OCCG will fail to do what July’s Independent Reconfiguration Panel report demanded. She added: “I don’t think they are prepared to listen to anybody. They haven’t before and I can’t see why they would now. “They are playing with us. They think we can’t work things out and that we won’t do anything. They ought to know we will continue fighting.” Mr Courts said Friday’s meeting was ‘productive’ and a ‘good opportunity’ for groups involved to have their say. He added: “I will continue to place pressure on the OCCG to ensure all have timely access to a high-quality GP practice, and health services in Witney and west Oxfordshire are strengthened to cope with future healthcare demands.” HOSC will discuss Deer Park at a meeting at County Hall today.

Picture: Edmund Blok

Cycling through the rain and pain on Tour THE streets of Charlbury were lined with excited spectators and colourful bunting to welcome hundreds of cyclists on the penultimate stage of the Tour of Britain.

The riders cycled through the small west Oxfordshire town on Saturday, the seventh stage, as they got closer to their destination in Cheltenham. The crowds took in the

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atmosphere and cheered them on as they approached the end of their eight-day cycling tour from Edinburgh to Cardiff. For more turn to page 3


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