23,306 reasons why they should leave wards alone! (From Tewkesbury Admag)

23,306 reasons why they should leave wards alone!

ALMOST 24,000 people have now penned their opposition to the proposal to close two wards at Evesham Community Hospital and reduce services to a third.

A petition organised by The Journal has now reached 23,306 signatures, and a further 369 people have written letters to Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt, calling on her to intervene.

The letters were sent to the Secretary of State last week, accompanied by covering letters from Mayor Cllr Frances Smith and Journal editor John Murphy.

The Save Our Hospital campaign - launched by the Journal last month as The Battle of Evesham 2005 - reaches a critical point next Wednesday when the South Worcestershire Primary Care Trust meets.

On the agenda will be a report from chief executive Mike Ridley on his highly controversial proposals to close The Willows and Bredon Ward at Evesham Community Hospital and to withdraw GP services from Izod Ward in a cost-cutting measure.

Since the proposal was made public, a high-profile SOH campaign, headed by the mayor of Evesham, Councillor Frances Smith, has received unprecedented support.

Yesterday, the mayor appealed to as many people as possible to turn up at the PCT meeting at Wychavon Civic Centre at 9.30am.

"We want the board to realise just how strong the feeling is against a reduction in services at our hospital," she said. "It has already been demonstrated by the 23,000 plus signatures on the petition and the near 400 letters but we want to maintain the pressure."

The Mayor said while it was in order to carry banners outside the Civic Centre, no banners were allowed inside.

Mid Worcestershire MP Peter Luff has written to Mr Ridley urging the PCT to abandon the proposals for Evesham Hospital. "There is no clinical case for the changes proposed at Evesham," he said in the letter. "Evesham should not be punished for the expensive nature of the contract at the Worcestershire Royal Hospital, or for the other high costs imposed upon the health economy of Worcestershire by the government."

He said to close The Willows would be to strike a devastating blow against the interests of stroke patients, Bredon Ward provided better levels of care than any other NHS hospital and to move orthopaedic services to Kidderminster simply would not work.

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