THE Bucks Free Press and sister title The Star are urging readers to back their campaign to keep Wycombe Hospital’s former A&E department open 24-hours.

To join the campaign see related links below. You must submit your details by 9am on Monday, April 16.

We revealed last week that health chiefs are considering slashing the opening hours of the Emergency Medical Centre if controversial NHS plans are implemented.

The centre, which was formerly a full A&E ward, is set to be further downgraded to a minor injuries and illnesses unit under the plans.

It would not be staffed by specialist consultants, with GPs taking the lead role instead.

Though this seems certain to be rubber-stamped, health chiefs have not decided on what the opening hours of the new unit should be.

Steve Cohen, editor of the Bucks Free Press and Star, said: "I believe we should have blanket 24-hour care, seven days a week, in a single, easy to locate unit. It’s the only way to give the people of the Wycombe district the reassurance and care they so badly need.

"Unlike other hospital changes which are almost certain to go through, this one is still very much unresolved and there is a chance the NHS will act on the public’s wishes."

Steve Baker, Conservative MP for Wycombe, said there seems to be "scope for manoeuvre" in the debate over the opening hours.

He added: "I agree with the Bucks Free Press and I want the minor injuries and illnesses unit to stay open 24-hours-a-day.

"That’s obviously what the people of Wycombe want and I think it’s a reasonable demand. I want it to be really simple so people know where they should go and I would really prefer it to be a walk-in centre."

But he added "value for money" should also be a consideration, suggesting health chiefs could look at options for the current GP out-of-hours service to help provide ‘urgent care’ overnight.

The 24-hour GP out-of-hours service is also based at Wycombe Hospital, though patients have to telephone to arrange an appointment, before seeing a doctor if necessary.

This service does not offer access to X-rays and other tests, however, so non-emergency patients needing these services would have to wait till the next day.

Geoff Payne, medical director for the NHS Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire Cluster, said only about 12 patients currently attend the Emergency Medical Centre each night, with one or two of these needing an X-Ray or other test.

He added: "We need to have to ability to respond overnight 24-hours, so the issue is what is the most appropriate way to respond. We are looking at the stats and looking at the detail of what patients actually turn up with."

He agreed that non-emergency patients having to travel to Stoke Mandeville in the middle of the night would be a "bad outcome" for Wycombe, but suggested the GP out-of-out hours service could be developed to meet patients’ needs and prevent that happening.

Emergency patients with more serious problems will not be affected by a change to the unit’s opening hours, as they will already be redirected to the main A&E ward at Stoke Mandeville or Wycombe’s stroke or heart attack units.

To join the campaign see related links above. You must submit your details by 9am on Monday, April 16.