Health chiefs will make a final decision later this month on whether to close two community hospitals in Gloucestershire.
Yesterday NHS Gloucestershire revealed the results from a 12-week consultation exercise, into the possible closure of the two small hospitals in the Forest of Dean, Lydney and Dilke.
The HOLD (Hands off Lydney and Dilke) campaign group gathered outside Shire Hall in Gloucester yesterday, to protest against the plans to replace the hospitals with a new £11 million facility, while NHS bosses discussed the issue with councillors.
One man said: “These hospitals were what our grandfathers built, it’s not the government’s to take.”
One former health worker at the protest added: “I disagree with these plans because having worked there I know it’s not viable, it’s another example of the many NHS cuts.”
The consultation revealed that 43% of people agreed with the decision to invest in a new community hospital, 46% said no and 12% said they didn’t know.
A statement from NHS Gloucestershire thanked the people who took part in the consultation and a decision will be made at the end of this month.
“We acknowledge the comments made by the County’s Health and Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee on the consultation process and would like to thank them for the feedback offered following consideration of the Outcome of Consultation Report.
“We will review and carefully consider all of the feedback received from members of the public, staff and community partners before any decisions relating to the preferred option are made.
“A full report will be considered by the Board of Gloucestershire Care Services NHS Trust and NHS Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group’s Governing Body in public session at the end of January 2018.”
