RESIDENTS heard what living in a Healthy New Town will be like at this week’s community forum.

East Hampshire District Council’s forum, held for the first time at the Havannah officers’ mess on Tuesday, saw experts field questions about health provision in Whitehill and Bordon.

District council leader Ferris Cowper spoke of the “fantastically exciting” opportunity presented to the town after it was selected last year as one of the NHS’ 10 Healthy New Towns in the country.

He said the “very broad” scheme encouraged a multi-disciplined, holistic approach to health and, by tackling “the whole lifestyle, care can be provided in an innovative way.

With the recent closure of the town’s Woolmer Surgery, and a staffing decline at Pinehill Surgery, concerns were raised about what could be done to attract doctors to the town as the population grows.

Sara Tiller, chief development officer at the local NHS Clinical Commissioning Group, said it was “no secret” that there was a national GP shortage.

As it took about 10 years to train a GP, it was difficult to forecast demand, she said. And, when young doctors moving abroad with their qualifications was factored in, the impact was felt across the country.

However, she said that “the model of care is changing generally”, with old-fashioned, small practices - essentially owner-operated businesses - proving “not to be attractive” nowadays.

She highlighted recent studies showing that about 30 to 40 per cent of people who visit a GP are not there for a clinical reason, meaning the doctor’s limited time was not being used well.

But this multi-disciplinary way of working - with lots of different organisations and individuals brought together in a central location, like the proposed health campus in Whitehill and Bordon’s new town centre - is more attractive to doctors, particularly younger ones who prefer flexible conditions.

She admitted that the future of the town’s Chase Hospital was not as certain as the NHS previously insisted.

For “the time being” it would remain open but, she said, there “will come a point when we’ve got fabulous new facilities running in the new town centre” and then the “Chase Hospital will be surplus to requirements”.

Bill Wain, from the Whitehill and Bordon Town Partnership, said that as “we’re 25 miles from the nearest A&E”, he was disappointed that a minor-injuries clinic was said to be only “marginally possible”.

“We need one,” he added.

Mr Cowper said he was giving “a diplomatically hedged answer”, but said he “sincerely and deeply” hoped a minor-injuries clinic would be included in the health campus.

“I will move heaven and earth to secure that,” he said. “My commitment is 100 per cent.”

But the Clinical Commissioning Group’s Ms Tiller told the audience that, under the old-fashioned model of health provision, a minor-injuries unit typically needed a population of 100,000 people or more to be viable. She highlighted the minor-injuries unit at Petersfield’s hospital, but said the new model of multi-disciplinary care would look quite different in future years.

However Bordon resident Frankie Gallagher, a retired psychiatric sister, said that a multi-disciplinary approach was not a new idea.

“What you need to provide is a seamless service,” she added.

The panel also heard that when using public transport it was “impossible” to get to Petersfield at certain times and, with initiatives to stop people driving, a stark irony emerged.

“You don’t want me to use my car, am I flying to Petersfield on my broomstick?” Mrs Gallagher asked. “Or am I able to walk there?”

Mrs Gallagher highlighted personal frustration with health provision, having to drive her husband to Basingstoke which, she said, was “a 52-mile round trip for a 20 second appointment”.

“So, yes, I am concerned,” she added.

But the theme from the panel was optimism, with Mr Cowper speaking about the vast array of initiatives coming as part of the Healthy New Town scheme.

These included the creation of 27 miles of new cycleways and footpaths, encouraging walking in new open spaces and placing the health campus close to the new leisure centre.

Although keen to insist there would still be plenty of choices for residents, schemes like ensuring “poor-quality fast-food joints” were not near schools would remove the temptation for younger people, he said.

There are also projects involving both the private and public sectors to tackle issues that might not seem overtly related to health, like social isolation. Loneliness, particularly among older people, is a contributory factor to a multitude of disorders so methods to reduce it are welcomed by health practitioners.

This preventative approach to medicine - ensuring that people do not get ill instead of reactively treating them when they do - is a cornerstone of the Healthy New Town scheme.

Mr Cowper said the idea of inter-generational living created a “symbiotic relationship” between young and old people.

One such initiative in the Netherlands sees university students living rent free in nursing homes - a win-win scenario for everyone.

“It’s a very attractive concept,” he added.

Mr Cowper also spoke tentatively about early talks with partners to provide a care home in Whitehill and Bordon - something he personally promised at a community forum in 2015.

GP Dr Anthony Leung said: “This really is probably a once-in-a-generation opportunity. It will only go wrong if we think too small or too short term.”