I’ve been hugely encouraged by the response to my campaign to bring one of the government’s new neighbourhood health centres to the constituency. Thank you to everyone who has signed the petition and helped to spread the word.

After asking the Prime Minister directly about this last week, I’ve now written to Wes Streeting MP, the Secretary of State for Health, to make the case directly. You can read the letter below.

I’ll be setting up more meetings with Parliamentary colleagues and local healthcare leaders to continue to make the case and I’ll keep you updated with news. If you haven’t already, do consider subscribing to my newsletter to be among the first to receive campaign updates.

Letter to the Rt Hon Wes Streeting MP, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

Dear Secretary of State,

I welcome the announcement of the Fit for the Future Ten Year Plan and am immensely proud of the priority the Government is placing the future of our much-cherished NHS.

I welcome the intention of the Government to establish Neighbourhood Health Centres, in supporting the shift from hospitals to communities. I am writing to urge consideration of Bitterne as a priority location for one of the new Neighbourhood Health Centres.

Bitterne is a district centre in my constituency, where residents still feel the loss of the much-loved NHS walk-in centre that was closed a decade ago under the previous Conservative Government. That closure removed a vital access point to primary care, forcing people to rely more heavily on overstretched GP surgeries and Southampton General Hospital’s Emergency Department, which is one of the busiest in the region.

At a community coffee morning I held last month focused on the NHS in my constituency, I heard directly from local residents just how deeply they still feel the loss of the walk-in centre. Many spoke movingly of how it had provided peace of mind for families with young children and older residents. Walk-in centres were a powerful statement of intent by the last Labour Government that the NHS should work for patients, rather than a system that expects patients to be available only when it is convenient for the NHS.

Bitterne, and the whole of the east of Southampton, would benefit enormously from access to a Neighbourhood Health Centre offering GPs, nursing care, diagnostics, mental health support, and urgent treatment all under one roof. With Southampton General Hospital serving not just the city but a national and international catchment, it is both logical and necessary to reduce pressure on its services by investing in accessible, community-based care for the people of Southampton Itchen.

I would welcome the opportunity to discuss this further with you and your team, and to work together on delivering the better access to NHS care that residents in Bitterne both need and deserve.

Kind regards,

Darren Paffey MP
Member of Parliament for Southampton Itchen