Save our hospitals - March on 9th December

It is confirmed that there will be a "Save our services" march in support of West Cumbria hospitals on Saturday 9th December in Whitehaven.

I hope as many people as possible will support the march. Assemble at Castle Park at 9.45 am ready to move off by 10 am.

The march is already receiving support from right accross the community. Obviously a lot of the focus is on the West Cumberland Hospital but we should remember that all the Community hospitals in Cumbria including Millom Community Hospital and Keswick Hospital are also under threat.

The welcome confirmation that this march is up and running comes at the same time as the less welcome, but hardly surprising, news that the government has included both the newly formed Cumbria Primary Care Trust (PCT) and the North Cumbria Acute Services NHS trust on a list of health trusts with the worst financial problems.

When I was a health authority member in Hertfordshire before moving to West Cumbria, 50,000 people signed a petition, and thousands lined the streets to protest during a ministerial visit, rather than quietly accept a proposal to close the local hospital, making patients and their families travel eight miles for A&E and maternity services. If we lose our hospitals we are looking at a trip to Carlisle or Barrow - a far longer journey over much more difficult roads. People in London or Hertfordshire would never have accepted that and I am certain that people in West Cumbria won't accept it either. So let's prove it by getting the maximum possible attendance on 9th December.

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