A précis of his letter reads:
What on earth made the North and Mid-Hants Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) think it was OK to make a Chineham hotel, 16-miles away on the other side of Basingstoke the vaccination venue for the vulnerable of Alton, a town of 20,000 people, with a further 16,000 souls in its hinterland?
Who thought this was in any way a good or even acceptable idea?
Perhaps the clue is in the CCG’s name; those on its southern boundary are out of sight and so someone else’s problem.
Did anyone check on the public transport to Chineham – it’s at least a two-bus, 90 minute journey.
The cost of a cab there and back would be between £60 and £90, perhaps more with waiting time.
Did anyone ask how many of those to be vaccinated owned cars, had access to one, or how many journeys would have to be made in total?
Did anyone consider the risk to drivers acting as taxis making multiple trips involving multiple passengers, with multiple opportunities to contract and spread Covid-19?
Perhaps another reason for this inexplicable decision is that Chineham is where the CCG is based – but how about delivering vaccinations locally where the need is?
Petersfield (population 14,000) got a vaccination centre, as did Whitehill and Bordon (10,000).
With a far bigger population why can’t Alton get its own vaccination facility?
It has the premises with the necessary facilities, along with teams of local GPs who deliver the annual flu jab with military precision.
Why were local healthcare professionals, said to be incandescent about the Chineham solution, not listened to?
Why do retired health professionals keen to help and who have delivered tens of thousands of jabs, need to attend courses on giving an injection?
What a total waste of time, money, effort, and goodwill.
In fairness, those who made it to Chineham say it was well-organised with the vaccinations delivered efficiently.
But they should never have had to make that journey when the necessary facilities were available on their doorstep.
Who is standing up for Alton’s interests? When did local MP Damian Hinds first know that residents of the largest town in his constituency would be treated so shamefully?
Why is he, along with politicians of all stripes representing the town, not up in arms about this?
Why does East Hampshire District Council constantly let down those in Alton, its largest group of council tax-payers?
When is someone going to stand up for East Hampshire’s largest town? This is not a rhetorical question. I want an answer. So do many others.