Rural communities should be entitled to same public services as urban centres

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Friday, 20 December 2019 17:03

By Carmelo Garcia - Local Democracy Reporter

Ross-on-Wye town councillors say people living in the countryside should be entitled to the same level of services as those living in cities.

Councillor Ed O’Driscoll made the remarks while the council quizzed health bosses over their decision to shut the minor injury units in Leominster and Ross for the third consecutive winter.

Wye Valley NHS Trust along with Herefordshire Clinical Commissioning Group agreed to relocate staff from both towns to help cope with the extra pressures on the accident and emergency department in Hereford.

But councillor O’Driscoll said there was a risk that villages would be left with no services at all if the same logic to get the best value out every pound spent on public services was followed through elsewhere in society.

“While I understand it’s important you get the best value for every pound you spend, if you follow that logic through you would have no post offices or shops in villages,” he said.

“You’d only have hospitals in major towns and city centres.

“But there’s a duty of care to people who live in rural communities and market towns.

“To measure it purely in terms of how many people they see in an hour does a great disrespect to the people living in those communities

“If you follow that logic through there would be nothing in any village or small town.

“Everything would be centralised into the major combination because you get more bang for your buck.

“People living in the countryside have to get in their car and travel because there is no public transport.

“People who live in market towns and villages have just as much of a right to adequate service in a certain geographic area as someone who lives in the heart of Hereford.”