Bedford's £10million on healthcare reviews: '£10m which could have gone on health'?
Since 2011 the region’s NHS chiefs have had three separate reviews at how healthcare could be overhauled to provide better services for less money.
Yet ironically none of these reviews have actually led to the most important proposed change – the merger between Bedford and Luton.
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Mayor Dave Hodgson said: “Seven years and around £10 million have been wasted on reviews which have considered major cuts and closures of vital hospital units.
“It’s painful to think of how all that time and money could have been invested in improving care.”
In 2011 healthcare bosses began Healthier Together, an extremely ambitious scheme which would have merged five hospitals in Bedford, Luton, Milton Keynes, Northampton and Corby. This cost £2.2million.
This was followed by the Bedford and Milton Keynes Healthcare Review, which cost upwards of £4.5million.
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Finally the Strategic Transformation Partnership is still ongoing, linking services between Bedford, Luton and Milton Keynes.
A spokesperson for Beds Clinical Commissioning Group said: “The aim has always been to provide the best possible patient care and services to the increasing local population and address the challenges facing our local hospitals.”