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Home | Community & Vocational | 14 September 2011 - Richard Pushman foresees "The future of Healthcare in Bucks"

Wed Sep 14th 2011

On Wednesday 14 September, Richard Pushman from County Hall, spoke about the future of healthcare in Bucks.

It soon became apparent that this was going to be a fluid subject, not least because everyone in his sector seems to be grappling at the moment with huge changes in healthcare provision at a time when budgets are being squeezed. There was also another backdrop of an ageing population and an increase in mental health issues amongst the younger population.

He further explained how specialist healthcare is being concentrated into centres of excellence, how some GP surgeries were being grouped into consortia and how advances in keyhole surgery and other techniques were changing the face of hospitals.     

We also learned that pressure on the healthcare budget at all levels was throwing up further questions about the levels of wasteful expenditure in some areas. Questions from the floor about the closure of day care centres went largely unanswered, although there was a hint that charities will be expected to cover the shortfall. Overall, this was an interesting talk, although many were left worrying about the challenges that are being faced.