WITH the pandemic more than a year ago now, Weston is rebounding steadily.
Our unemployment is below the national average, and we’re becoming an employment centre in our own right as more people travel into town to work each morning, rather than heading off to Bristol.
But all those extra local jobs and houses mean our local services have to keep up too.
For instance, I’ve long argued that a growing town like Weston needs a bigger NHS, treating more patients for a wider variety of illnesses than before.
And now it looks as though Government Ministers have been listening to what I and other people have been telling them because, in the last couple of weeks, we’ve had two brilliant pieces of news.
The first was that Weston was getting a brand new Diagnostics Centre. There are only a few dozen of them being built around the UK, so I’m absolutely delighted Weston is one.
It will mean all of us and our families will be able to get diagnostic tests like X-rays or ultrasound, MRI and CT scans much faster, and locally rather than having to travel to Bristol or Taunton too.
And then came the news that Weston Hospital is getting a new Stroke Rehabilitation Centre.
It means local stroke patients can recover without having to trek in and out of Bristol for each session and, more fundamentally, it’s the second major investment in Weston’s NHS in a matter of weeks. It all builds on the growth that’s been underway at Weston Hospital ever since it merged with the Bristol Royal Infirmary (BRI) a few years ago.
So, we’re making good progress, but there’s still a long way to go.
The pandemic may be over, but waiting lists for GP appointments and some operations are too high, and NHS dentists are too rare, for anyone to relax.
But these last few weeks are genuine victories the town can be proud of.
Here’s to many more.