As Winstanley says, should we be surprised at this, especially in light of the good doctors lack of support for Heatherwood and then his publication of his fantasy hospital plan?

Bracknell residents deserve better and the only way for that to happen is for the people to speak; in other words use their vote effectively at the Town, Borough and General Elections when they next come around. Hopefully we will get a General Election sooner than the proposed fixed term if the ConDem alliance disintegrates and we can all join together is sending Dr Who packing and replaced with an MP who will work with and for the Constituents.

In the meantime let us hope that a compromise is reached for Healthspace at Brants Bridge and that the council ensure an adequate provision for low cost public transport is provided.

   I'm trying to spot the insults Olds Oak seems to feel have been thrown (in his direction?) and am struggling to find them, so please enlighten me somebody.

Is this a case of paranoia?

A case of Pot and Kettle?

Queen Gertrude from Hamlet, Act III, scene II?

And why has Olds Oak quoted a report which I have already stated is somewhat pointless - as is the second one primarily due to the ridiculous sample are and numbers involved. And as for quoting Trevor from Slough Labour Party too. I'll let him know.

   Olds Oak, if you are going to quote surveys which mean anything please do not re-quote one which has already been pointed out as inadequate. If you had read it, the Introduction states:

"Bellamy Roberts were instructed by Berkshire Health Care NHS Foundation Trust to carry out travel surveys with regard to a number of mental health wards at different hospitals in the East Berkshire area. The brief was to obtain robust data relating to the travel patterns of visitors to patients in these wards in order to facilitate future planning by the Trust for such facilities."

This is a very limited survey considering one small area of healthcare and as Disgruntled Former-Tory stated below and also gets supported by CMK this does not consider more physical patient needs. It is also hilarious that within this “report”, as pointed out, that when 55% of people think parking is over-priced the report goes on to say that the pricing is acceptable. I do so enjoy reading these so called consultants output.

I also enjoyed reading your second survey : The total number of people surveyed was 301 over TWO days in 2004. It states clearly that the area is Newbury and outlying areas and decries the woeful public transport system which is why cars were relied on.

And as for your last piece, well Trevor Allen writes about a number of items and you have cherry picked perhaps the one relevant item out of two otherwise short-sighted and irrelevant studies to refer to. I would be interested to know why you have delved into Slough and Buckinghamshire locale studies – anything to do with you getting advice as suggested below, i.e. is Dr Lee or the BCA assisting you on the “facts”.

The bottom line here is that there are issues and I sincerely hope that one day you do not find yourself in the position of struggling to get to a hospital appointment for cataracts, hip-replacement or cancer. I have assisted in getting elderly relatives to appointments for all these as they are no longer able to drive and due to poor public transport infrastructures and hospitals which are miles away from where they live would otherwise be unable to get to their appointments.

Now please note, I am not hurling insults or berating the inadequate MP. All of us here, with the exception of you (you do often appear in the minority) are asking for the provision of adequate public transport to be in place if and when needed.

   Have a look at this survey then: http://www.slough.gov.uk/moderngov/documents/s11158/Transport%20Survey%20JE.pdf

And the notes from a while back here: http://www.wbda.org/hostranssurvey.doc

And consider the following if it were put in a Bracknell Town Centre context: http://sloughtimes.com/nb/nb0/nb089.php

Instead of hurling insults, please show me some counter-surveys. You seem to believe that all of the ills of the world are being caused by our MP. What about the Hospital trusts, ex PCTs, Link groups and so on on on?

   Old Oaks - the point is that say someone has a hip op or arm in plaster then driving just isn't an option - so public transport has to be high on the "to do" list!

Dr Lee has no interest in Bracknell. Full Stop.

   Olds Oak, many of us have read your leader Doctor Doolittle’s paper and although we accept there is a certain amount of logic to his dream we all question the following:

1 How will it be funded? There isn’t enough cash to go round and his multi-£100m plus project is just his desire, possibly as a job for him long-term when he loses his seat (or a roile on the board).

2 How will people get there - and forget your comment about most trips to hospital are by car. In the real world (not Finchampsted) there is a strong reliance on neighbours, family or some form of charity assisting). And in the case of your reference (did you actually read it or was Dr Lee or the Chairman of your Association pulling your strings on this one) was all to do with mental health wards and people visiting patients which is a somewhat skewed sample!

So to be totally blunt I find your statement about visits to hospital by car hilarious. Your representative sample is as warped as your MP when it comes to facts. Your sample was for people visiting patients, not people needing to visit as patients!! And on that subject the report states that just under half of all respondents (45%) found the cost of car parking to be reasonable with just over half (55%) finding the costs to be too high or very expensive.

I love this bit:

“Given the generally adverse reaction of the public to car parking charges, the results suggest that the Trusts responsible for these three sites are setting charges at an acceptable level.”

I love that statement. It believes that as 55% - that is over half if you missed the major fact – deem the charges as unreasonable then it is OK? Other point, as Slough is mentioned was Doctor Doolittle a consultant on this piece of rubbish?

You Old Oak really need to stop believing propaganda and get with the times. Then again you are obviously a blind follower and therefore we should treat your comments with the contempt they deserve.

   Various surveys show that over 95% (about 97%) of visits to hospital are by car.

e.g. http://www.slough.gov.uk/moderngov/documents/s11158/Transport%20Survey%20JE.pdf

And do read the report. Too many people assume they know what it says without reading it. http://www.phillip-lee.com/wp-content/uploads/the-royal-thames-valley-hospital.pdf

   As Winstanley says, should we be surprised at this, especially in light of the good doctors lack of support for Heatherwood and then his publication of his fantasy hospital plan?

Bracknell residents deserve better and the only way for that to happen is for the people to speak; in other words use their vote effectively at the Town, Borough and General Elections when they next come around. Hopefully we will get a General Election sooner than the proposed fixed term if the ConDem alliance disintegrates and we can all join together is sending Dr Who packing and ensure he is replaced with an MP who will work with and for the Constituents.

In the meantime let us hope that a compromise is reached for Healthspace at Brants Bridge and that the council ensure an adequate provision for low cost public transport is provided.

   As already said better to have it at Brants Bridge than not a all

As there is a poor public service to the site I trust the Council will ensure a bus service like they have to the RBH at a £1 a ticket and running frequently

   In order to solve the carparking problem the centre is now to be located at a place where there is little access to publc transport. Bracknell needs a plan for the centre of the town that ensures that facilities like the health centre are located in the town centre.

   We know what's really going on here - the delays, prevarication, and obfuscation.

Phillip Lee is pushing for a hospital at Jct.8/9 - irrespective of his constituents wishes. The delays have been part of his tactic to push for his fantasy hospital.

I always said that as soon as Lee made it public knowledge that he didn't support walk-in clinics, didn't support Heatherwood, and wanted this hospital at Maidenhead, that Healthspace wouldn't happen.

But....if Bracknell's residents aren't prepared to stand up and fight for a future for themselves and their children then we only have ourselves to blame when the politicians and management class try to shaft us.

   Given the current climate - i tihnk Brants Bridge is probably a better solution - better parking, building is already there and the NHS could sell Skimped Hill and the Doctors surgery to pay for all the work and rid the town centre of 2 motre ugly buildings.

If its a choice between not having it .. and having it at Brants Bridge ... i vote to have it at Brants Bridge.

Good result if the Council can force the NHS to keep their word on healthcare provision for Bracknell