We went to Wetherby Town Hall.
42 people joined us for this Big Leeds Chat. What did people say in Wetherby?
By far and away the biggest health and care issue people in Wetherby told us about was a lack of access. Often this meant getting through to the GP surgery to book an appointment (although a few people also told us they’d been waiting for secondary care for some time). For many in Wetherby, being able to see the GP face-to-face was an important part of connecting with primary care. There seemed to be a sense that remote care was part of a general scaling-back of GP availability.
That said, a few people also took pains to say how good their surgery had been over the pandemic. Whichever angle people approached primary care access from, one thing was consistent: people clearly placed a huge amount of value on their GP.
Some people mentioned that they were worried new housing would put a strain on overstretched infrastructure, including healthcare and already unpleasantly congested roads. It was very much felt that public transport needed improvement, not least because of the air pollution afflicting the area and its residents.
A few people also mentioned how expensive housing was in Wetherby, expressing the hope that cheaper options would be made available.
Finally, six of the people we spoke to in Wetherby told us about a bereavement they had suffered since the start of the pandemic. For this and other reasons (not least isolation), some people’s mental health had declined in recent months. For Wetherby residents, getting mental health support often means travelling to Leeds or York – which can entail relying on a bus service few seem to have confidence in.
What next steps for Wetherby did this chat inspire in our decision-makers?
“Mental health support group required for Wetherby”
“[Wetherby needs] more flexible bus services at peak time”
“Need to consider how we link cross-border”
