Correction

In Focus Issue 1048 of 31 March the SWF Health & Social Care Group’s article of 26 March reported its meeting with Sir John Whittingdale MP and Dan Doherty which included that “Crouch Vale Medical Centre (CVMC) will be able to cope with the extra patients from the housing development North of Burnham Road”; and that “The full report of the meeting with our MP on 3 March is on our website https://swfhealthsocial.co.uk/ in the Activities and News sections”. The Centre was planned, designed, and built between 2015 and 2019 and took account of all known plans for new house building at that time. The Centre will still cope with delivery of its medical services despite the impact of Covid and some additional housing development.

Between 2015-19 it was known that all Town Centre medical services would be transferred to CVMC which was why the developers of CVMC were strenuously lobbied to swap the land at the Sainsbury’s development for some in the Town Centre, including that of the Merchant Street Health Centre so CVMC would be in the Town Centre, but the developers would not pursue that option.

The CVMC developer contributed £75,000 towards accessible Town transport to get to CVMC. Around £60,000 was used for a one-year contract for accessible buses to be used for the public transport Town circular bus. The use of that contract was affected by the onset of Covid. In 2022 the Town circular bus timetable and route was changed. Since then, a way of getting patients needing transport to CVMC has been being explored and around £16,000 remains for this. However, many forms of public and taxi transport in our area, as nationally, have seriously reduced. So far it has been impossible to find a willing provider, but efforts continue to try to find something to help with this. If anyone can offer an accessible vehicular transport service to get people living in SWF to and from appointments at CVMC please contact swfhealthsocial@outlook.com .