Tens of thousands in Support Stafford Hospital march

 

Tens of thousands of people have marched against recommendations to downgrade Stafford Hospital's services.

A Monitor report published in February called for the closure of acute services including the A&E department.

The trust which runs the hospital was put into administration by the health regulator Monitor on Monday.
Support Stafford Hospital campaigners and police said up to 30,000 people had joined the march, from the town centre to the hospital.


The campaign group said the town's Market Square was so full of protesters it took 45 minutes for it to clear as the march started.
Thousands of people had previously signed a petition calling for Stafford Hospital's services to remain and a campaign shop from the protest group has been set up in the town centre.

'Not bound'
Regulator Monitor has given the administrators for the Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust, Ernst and Young, 145 days to work with local healthcare organisations to produce a "sustainable plan" for the future of services at the Stafford and Cannock Chase hospitals.

The Contingency Planning Team (CPT) report to Monitor last month said staffing levels at the hospitals were not sufficient to meet required standards in the long term, given the current range of services and number of patients.
It said some services - including accident and emergency, intensive care and maternity - could be provided at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire, the Royal Wolverhampton Hospital Trust and Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust instead.
Unison officials said earlier this week the administrators had told them they "were not bound by the recommendations".