What a difference a few years make. An empty inbox on Townlands Memorial Hospital. Very few complaints about what is a first class hospital. Beds for patients set up in the neighbouring care home, originally put in at the request of some sections of the town - given back to the care sector. No one used them. And a top floor now filled with patients’ clinics.

Last week John returned to Townlands Hospital in Henley having not been able to go for a while due to the pandemic. He met with Steve McManus, Chief Executive of the Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, and colleagues to hear about developments and to see what changes have been made.

The top floor is full. The Royal Berkshire Trust is now providing a number of additional services from Townlands including Outpatients, Ear, Nose and Throat, Audiology and Radiology. Oxfordshire Health continues to offer others services such as a busy Podiatry service.

John said: “It was great to have the opportunity to go back to Townlands again and see how it has developed. It really is a good news story and it was great to see that the hospital is going from strength to strength. I would like to see more such facilities made available in other areas. It is so much easier for local people to go to Townlands rather than have to travel into Reading for these services."

John also met with some of the team who will be staffing a Rapid Access Care Unit which is also to be piloted from the site this summer. This will support other NHS services such as the South Central Ambulance Service and the 111 service.