Latest News Updates

Details: Created: 01 December 2023

In 1990 the National Health Service decided that the much-loved Brackley Cottage Hospital was no longer viable and needed to be closed. The residents of the town and its surrounding villages, however, had other ideas, and, spearheaded by the then Town Mayor of Brackley, George Britchfield, an ambitious project began to “save the Cottage”. A charitable trust, of which George became the first chairman, was set up to run the hospital thanks to public donations, subscriptions and legacies. There were some private nursing home beds and others which were rented to the NHS for intermediate care. In spite of many pressures, this continued for 25 years until it proved impossible to recruit sufficient trained permanent staff to ensure the safe working of the hospital, and a sad decision was taken to close its doors on 31 March 2015.

Read more: 1990 to the Present Day

Details: Created: 08 November 2023

BRACKLEY COMMUNITY HOSPITAL 2020 TRUST

DELIVERS

PURPOSE BUILT PATIENT TRANSPORT

Trustees, using funds raised by the local community, were extremely pleased to have recently presented the Brackley Community Hospital with much needed patient Transport.

A couple of months ago, the charity was asked if they would consider funding a wheelchair-accessible vehicle that could be used for the benefit of the patients in the intermediate care beds on the second floor of Brackley Community Hospital.

Transport is required if those patients have to attend hospital appointments elsewhere or have specialised treatments off-site, and it is also needed when patients are taken to their homes for assessment prior to discharge. Up until now, local taxi firms had been used; this was not ideal as, not only are they expensive, their available times are also limited because of school contracts. Hospital transport will cover certain requirements but not others. The main outcome was that staff were using their own transport which worked but was not very satisfactory, especially when a wheelchair or other mobility equipment also needed to be carried.

Once we had received confirmation that the only ongoing expense which the charity would have to pay was an annual service of both the car and its hydraulics, we set about sourcing a suitable vehicle. One was found in good condition and with low mileage just the other side of Northampton, and Paul Bennett, our treasurer, drove it back to Brackley.

Signs Engraving have just personalised the vehicle for us, and you can see the result here. Although it has been donated by the charity, it has been funded by public donations from the community in Brackley and the surrounding area.

We are anxious to spend the money which you have all raised and given, but we need to be sure that we are getting value for money for you and that we continue to accelerate and enhance the NHS services in the town, and not just subsidise the service.

We remain grateful to everybody who has given thus far, however large or small the donation, and we assure you that the money will in due course all be well spent. Thank you.

Details: Created: 10 August 2023

First Contact Physiotherapists at Brackley Medical Centre and Springfield Surgery respectively, were both delighted to receive anatomical demonstration models funded by Brackley Community Hospital 2020 Trust. The models will be used to explain to patients at the two surgeries the nature of their musculo-skeletal problems and the treatment plans. Caryl Billingham , Chair of the Trust said “All our income was freely given by residents of Brackley and the surrounding villages. It is only right that we are able to use some of these funds to give back to the community equipment that will benefit their recovery and their future care”.

BMC physiotherapist 1 BMC physiotherapist 2 BMC physiotherapist 3

Details: Created: 18 August 2022

The Brackley Community Hospital 2020 Trust is keen to keep its supporters and all local residents as well informed as possible. However, in order to inform you all, it is first necessary for us to know things!

We were asked to hand over the public contribution towards the new piece of kit at the end of March and this was done - £90,000. We knew that the machine was delivered onsite at the end of May but we also knew that it would not be immediately operational – commissioning and training would be required first. A decision was therefore made not to publicise the machine’s existence too soon.

An update received yesterday is that there is some connectivity work still to be done between Brackley and Northampton before it can become operational. This is a communications issue and requires the application of IT specialists. The trustees were able to visit the x-ray room yesterday and see that the equipment really does exist.

However, we have to be patient and wait for all the cogs to drop into place before it can come into regular use for us all. And we have to bear in mind that this equipment will be used only for diagnostic and not for emergency x-rays.

In the meantime, this message is the latest information that is available. There is nobody working in any part of the Brackley Medical Centre And Community Hospital on Wellington Road who knows any more, so further details are not yet available.

As soon as we can bring you more news, rest assured we will.

CSB/120822

Charity Funds Equipment

1990 to the Present Day

Purpose Built Patient Transport

Heather Ruane and Huw Jones

Update on the X-ray machine

Policies