STAFFORD Hospital Campaigners will take the fight over future of the town’s hospital services to the doors of Prime Minister David Cameron today.
A delegation including Diana Smith of Stafford Labour Party, Cheryl Porter of the Support Stafford Hospital Group, Cannock councillor and prospective parliamentary candidate for Cannock Chase Janos Toth and Stafford Borough Councillor Anne Hobbs are carrying a petition with signatures of more than 20,000 local names to Downing Street.
An accompanying open letter to David Cameron asks the Prime Minister to support the campaign to keep the hospital open and reassure local people who fear the recent decision to extend indefinitely the closure of the A&E department overnight is the first step in a programme to completely downgrade the hospital and possible force its closure.
The letter reads: “We were told in November 2011 that the night time closure of A&E was temporary, but the Clinical Commissioning Group, with no consultation have decided to downgrade provision from A&E to an urgent and emergency care centre.
“Many people from across the country now fear that their district general hospitals are also under threat,” the letter says. “The logic of the commissioning group’s decision indicates that they are right to do so.
“The people of Stafford would like to know if you support their wish to re-open the A&E and if you will give this hospital the support that it needs to offer the service that the people of Staffordshire need and expect.”
