Healthwatch Bedford Borough

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Healthwatch Bedford Borough The independent consumer champion created to gather and represent the views of the public.

Do you run a village hub, parish centre, village school PTA, parish council, village pub, or WI in Bedford borough? Mayb...
02/11/2026

Do you run a village hub, parish centre, village school PTA, parish council, village pub, or WI in Bedford borough? Maybe you're a member of the local clergy or Mother's Union from a rural parish? If so, please drop us a message.

We're trying to get around to as many rural community events and sessions as we can over the coming weeks to ensure those residents that are rurally isolated are able to have their say on health and care services.

Our thanks to those parishes that have already welcomed us with open arms and wonderful hospitality 😊☕️🫖

02/11/2026

We are excited to announce the launch of BadgerNet, our new digital maternity record system, tomorrow at Bedford Hospital.

BadgerNet’s Single Pregnancy Record (SPR) will enable maternity teams to record and access important information digitally and will support the sharing of vital information across different care providers including GP’s, ensuring that all clinicians have access to a complete and accurate history of your pregnancy history.

Our team is ready to support you as we make this important change. If you have any questions about BadgerNet or Badger Notes, please speak to your midwife.

Read more on our website: www.bedfordshirehospitals.nhs.uk/our-services/maternity-2/badgernet-electronic-patient-records-epr/

02/11/2026

6-8 week review with the Health Visiting team.

At this point your new baby is starting to develop a personality all of their own, you will be seeing changes daily and there are many more to come and they start to become interested in their surroundings.

With this, parents often like reassurance, guidance and advise about their developing baby, and well as support with adjusting to family life and your changing hormones – This is where our team can help.

Your 6-8 week check with the Health visiting team is different to the one you have with the GP.

You will be sent an SMS link when your child is about 5 weeks to book this appointment at a time, date and venue to suit you.

We look forward to seeing you then.

People of Bedford, please like and share our page so that local folk can see regular Healthwatch Bedford Borough updates...
02/11/2026

People of Bedford, please like and share our page so that local folk can see regular Healthwatch Bedford Borough updates on local and national NHS and social care service delivery news and changes, opportunities to take part in academic research, news and opportunities from local community partners, bank holiday pharmacy rotas and ways in which you can on your experiences of care. 💻📱

Remember, we seek positive experiences of care just the same as negative feedback! 🌟

If your GP, practice nurse, dentist, pharmacy, consultant, midwife, a nurse or clinical support worker at the hospital or in the community teams, paramedic, home carer, social worker, etc, has gone above and beyond displaying excellent person-centred care, kindness and compassion, please tell us! 💻☎️📞

Let's shout about really good experiences of care in our town and spread this learning to inform change. 🩺🛏🏨

This will help not only people now, but for generations to come. 🔬🧪🩻

All of your feedback is anonymised, analysed, collated and sent to Healthwatch England to inform policy writing and change.📋🖋

Please offer your feedback here:
https://www.healthwatchbedfordborough.co.uk/have-your-say

02/11/2026

Over a third of workers in England delay or avoid GP appointments due to work pressures, according to our new research.

For employees on zero-hours contracts, that figure rises to 50%.

Access to GP services is often viewed through the lens of service capacity and appointment availability. But for many people, accessibility is also shaped by whether they can fit appointments around their work.

Workers don’t generally have a legal right to time off for routine medical appointments, leaving many dependent on their employer’s policies.

Attending a GP appointment can mean losing pay or sacrificing annual leave.

We’re calling on the Government to strengthen workers’ rights to attend essential healthcare appointments without losing income.

Read more in our new blog (link in the comment).

01/11/2026

Update regarding maternity vaccination clinics

The vaccination clinics in Cygnet Wing which offer Pertussis (Whooping Cough), Flu or RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) vaccines will not be running on the following dates at Bedford Hospital due to the BadgerNet launch in the unit:

• Tuesday 3 November
• Thursday 5 November
• Tuesday 10 November
• Thursday 12 November

The vaccination clinics in King’s House will be running as normal.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your understanding.

01/11/2026
01/11/2026

🚨Is Bedford’s Central Library closing?
NO. But please do have a look at this if you’re interested in its future facilities and location.
👇👇👇

Deadline on the consultation on what a future Bedford Central Library should include is TOMORROW (Monday). 📚📚

The consultation asks what facilities and services are most important to you in a future Bedford Central Library. This could include:

✅ Children's and family facilities
✅ Study and learning spaces
✅ Flexible community activity space
✅ Public computers and digital support
✅ Heritage and local studies provision
✅ Health and Wellbeing activities

📚📚📚There are 3 options on the table, one which would involve a move to the Howard Centre, near TK Maxx.
🔗 Find out more (there’s quite a bit of info to take in) and be sure to have your say whether you’re a regular or occasional library user:

https://www.bedford.gov.uk/your-council/have-your-say/consultations/bedford-borough-library-strategy-2026-2031-and-future-development-bedford-central-library

Address

21-23 Gadsby Street
Bedford
MK403HP

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Monday 8am - 3:30pm
Tuesday 8am - 3:30pm
Wednesday 8am - 3:30pm
Thursday 8am - 3:30pm
Friday 8am - 3:30pm

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