Nearly 800 join hospital protest (From Bucks Free Press)

Nearly 800 join hospital protest

3:10pm Friday 20th October 2006 in News

SCORES of letters are still arriving daily at the Star offices since we launched our Don't Do It, Hewitt campaign.

Nearly 800 people have written in to urge Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt not to move Wycombe's A & E unit.

Star editor Steve Cohen launched the campaign after bosses at the Bucks Hospitals' NHS Trust announced more services could be moved due to pressure from the Department of Health.

They stressed there are no plans at present but added they could not rule out any future changes.

Wycombe and Marlow MP Paul Goodman was due to discuss the condition of the NHS in Bucks during a special adjournment debate in the House of Commons.

Speaking on the eve of the debate, he praised the Star campaign and said: "This is a significantly high response rate and it reflects the real genuine and heartfelt anxieties of local people about the future of our A & E, which is effectively up in the air.

“To have to go all the way over to Stoke Mandeville, it’s a matter of life and death in many cases."

Catherine Orton

"I want to see a full A & E service restored to Wycombe Hospital."

Women and children's services are already set to move to Stoke Mandeville in Aylesbury despite a public outcry, and now hundreds of you are desperate to keep Wycombe's A & E.

Monique Hathaway, of Robinson Road, Loudwater, said: "I have had to use the A & E several times and I feel it has saved my life really, because it was so close to home.

"The thought of having to travel all the way to Aylesbury, I just can't contemplate it.

"I cannot understand why they are thinking of moving it.

"It's enough to give you sleepless nights."

Anthony Burns, from Beaconsfield, also said Wycombe's A&E had saved his life.

He added: "Just over a couple of years ago I was taken in the middle of the night with pneumonia.

"I stopped breathing at one stage and they resuscitated me, so I'm quite keen on them."

Catherine Orton, from Chesham, said that moving A&E services to Aylesbury could be fatal.

She added: "To have to go all the way over to Stoke Mandeville, it's a matter of life and death in many cases.

"I can't see why they can't keep Wycombe open.

"It's coming down to the fact there will only be one or two places in the country - where do you draw the line?"