‘Keep fighting for A&E’ call as changes are not ruled out

A NURSE who launched a petition to save A&E has urged people to keep fighting after the government failed to rule out future changes at the department.

The government has responded to an online petition to save A&E at Macclesfield Hospital after more than 10,000 residents signed it.

Officials from the Department of Health have confirmed that the A&E department will remain, which is good news for campaigners including the Express who fought to protect it.

But the statement does not rule out changes to services, stating that the public will be consulted before any changes are made.

Nurse Claire Gilham, who launched the petition and received the response from the government, has warned the fight for A&E is not over. The government response states: “On 25 November the Eastern Cheshire Caring Together Programme provided clarity on the future of the A&E department at Macclesfield Hospital, giving an assurance that it will continue to have an A&E department.

“It should be emphasised that the STP process is still at an early stage and no decisions have yet been taken. No changes to the services people currently receive will be made without local engagement. If final plans propose service changes, formal consultation will follow in due course.” Claire, who used to work at the hospital, is urging people to keep signing the petition.

If it reaches more than 100,000 signatures The Petitions Committee, made up of 11 MPs from political parties in government and in opposition, can consider it for a debate in Parliament.

Claire said: “As we can see in the government response there is no final decision yet. We need to keep the pressure up to maintain the hospital services. We need the petition up to 100,000 so it’s discussed in Parliament.”

Earlier this year plans were revealed which could have seen the A&E unit at Macclesfield replaced with an urgent care centre.

The move which could have been carried out as part of the Cheshire and Merseyside Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) was revealed in a statement by the Eastern Cheshire Caring Together group. But after a campaign led by the Express, health bosses overseeing changes in local healthcare backtracked and confirmed that A&E will remain.