South Cotswolds MP Roz Savage has delivered a petition with more than 3,000 signatures to 10 Downing Street, calling on the Government to protect NHS services in the region.
The Liberal Democrat MP attended the hand-in alongside a group of active participants in the campaign, made up of Liberal Democrat councillors in the area, as part of her ongoing campaign to stop the temporary closure of the daytime operating theatre at Cirencester Hospital in Cirencester’s Tetbury Road from becoming permanent.
NHS Gloucestershire announced the closure as part of its ‘Centres of Excellence’ trial, which concentrates certain surgical procedures at larger hospitals in Cheltenham and Gloucester.
Dr Savage has warned that if the trial is judged a success, the closure could be made permanent.
The petition gathered more than 3,000 signatures from householders across the South Cotswolds and beyond as a result of multiple signature drives in Cirencester and an online campaign.
Speaking after the hand-in, Dr Savage said: “I am incredibly proud of everyone who signed this petition and helped spread the word across the South Cotswolds.
“More than 3,000 signatures is a powerful statement from our community showing just how much people value Cirencester Hospital and how determined they are to defend it.
“Rural NHS services don’t fight for themselves.
“That’s why I’m at Number 10 today – to make sure the Government hears loud and clear that our community will not accept the quiet erosion of the care we depend on.”
Liberal Democrat councillor in the area and campaigner Paul Hodgkinson added: “For so many people, these hospitals are where a loved one recovered after illness, where rehabilitation took place close to home, where families could visit without travelling for hours and where older householders could receive care with dignity in the communities they know and love.
“In a rural district like the Cotswolds, local healthcare matters enormously.
“These hospitals are not optional extras.
“They are essential infrastructure.”
Dr Savage has previously raised the issue in Parliament, pressing NHS Gloucestershire and the Government for guarantees Cirencester’s services will be protected, particularly given the significant housing growth planned for the area and the pressures of an ageing rural population.
She has also voiced householders’ concerns to the Integrated Care Board.
Dr Savage has warned that concentrating services in urban hospitals risks creating a two-tier NHS where rural communities bear the cost of efficiency savings made for the benefit of patients elsewhere.