The Save Wantage Hospital Group has been active since 2016 when the in-patient facilities temporarily closed.

Since the rally last July (when over 1000 people gathered to express their concerns that it still hadn’t re-opened) it has spent a lot of time and resources working with the Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group (OCCG) to move this forward.

Even the Oxfordshire Health Oversight and Scrutiny Committee has pressed the Oxfordshire NHS Health Trust to do the necessary repairs and get the hospital re-opened, but to no avail.

They insist that they need to review the health needs across OX12 first, to prove that the services in the Hospital are needed.

As part of their response to our campaign they have announced that physiotherapy services will return to the Hospital but no start date has yet been given.

So OCCG is performing a study to work out what the needs are and the Save Wantage Hospital team together with patient representatives and local councillors are part of the OX12 Stakeholder Reference Group in the study.

The OCCG team has asked the OX12 Reference Group to find out what “community assets” are currently being used by people living in the OX12 postcode area. 

This is anything that can be used to improve the quality of community life, so this includes all of the clubs, societies and other groups that you attend that benefit your health and wellbeing as well as the NHS services that you use.

A survey has been prepared to find out where these services are provided and how people get there.

It is therefore very important that as many people as possible complete the survey. It was launched yesterday and is available online http://bit.ly/surveyOX12 with hard copies available in the doctors surgeries, Wantage Library, Bretts Pharmacy in Grove, Hanney Community Shop, Letcombe Shop, Hendred Stores and the Beacon.

Questions 10, 11 and 12 are probably the most important.

They talk about how you get to all of the activities and NHS services and what would help you to access these community assets, as well as asking about any services that you would like to have access to and why.

Just to remind you, Wantage Hospital used to provide minor injuries, X-ray, physiotherapy, respite care and rehabilitation services including end of life care, as well as midwife-led maternity.

You could explain how these services, if they had been provided by the hospital, might have affected you differently or could affect you in the future.