VOTE: Are you backing the bid to get Littlehampton’s hospital rebuilt?

AFTER a decade of delay, campaigners have run out of patience with NHS chiefs and this week re-launched the bid to rebuild Littlehampton’s community hospital.
By The Newsroom
Published 16th Jun 2011, 08:10 BST

Against a background of weeds now towering over the wasteland site of the old hospital in Fitzalan Road, protesters from all political parties and the hospital League of Friends group united in a renewed battle cry: “Enough is enough. Give us our hospital.”

Emotions came to a head at an “update” meeting with NHS West Sussex last Wednesday when there was no update. No date or firm promise was given for when the long hoped-for £10m hospital would be built.

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A statement issued to the Gazette by the health body yesterday (Wednesday) offered few crumbs of comfort for those who have been pressing since the late-1990s, first for the reopening of part of the old hospital which had been closed down, and then for three successive proposals for a rebuild, all of which have come to nothing.

Tuesday’s re-launch of the fight to make sure NHS chiefs finally deliver what they have pledged for the town was reignited by Arun District Council leader Gillian Brown and Littlehampton mayor Alan Gammon, with cross-party support.

Mrs Brown said: “Enough is enough. I demand to be told the truth. I want a straight answer about whether this hospital will be built or not.

“We have presented business cases that now appear to mean nothing and lost ring-fenced money specifically set aside to finance the build. We feel like we have spent more time in meetings talking than it would have taken to physically build the new hospital.

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“While the health trust has dithered and delayed, our town has grown. More homes have been built and our communities are expanding every day. Our need for better health provision in Littlehampton is greater than ever.”

People can add their voices to the call for Littlehampton Community Hospital to be built by:

- joining www.facebook.com/giveusourhospital

- signing an online protest letter at www.arun.gov.uk/giveusourhospital that will be presented to health bosses or, sign the protest voucher printed in this week’s Littlehampton Gazette.

- visiting Arun Civic Centre in Maltravers Road, Littlehampton, to sign the council petition.

VOTE: Are you backing the bid to get Littlehampton’s hospital rebuilt?

Leave your comments below and cast your vote in the panel to the right of the screen.

Related topics:NHSPeople