A protest was held today a Shire Hall in Gloucester by HOLD (Hands Off Lydney and Dilke) campaigning against the closure of two hospitals to make way for an £11m Super-Surgery. Dozens of people gathered outside the hall today to make a stand against the decision.
People have gathered here for various reasons, some people have been personally affected, whilst others are concerned what these cuts will mean for other NHS sectors. Campaigner Ian Wright told us that he was concerned about the loss of beds and NHS funding.
“All of this is a product of the cuts they’ve made in the past”, he also added that £11m funding is too low, “they need to double it” Wright stated. His reason for protesting was also personal as his sister’s mother-in-law struggled to find a bed across multiple hospitals and told us “she was a very elderly person, she could have been dying” after explaining how they were turned away by 3 hospitals, including ones in Wales. 
The campaigners started at 9:00 am but headed into the Shire Hall public gallery at 10:00am to hear what council and government had to say.
Louise, who has a disabled member of family, was also on hand and told us that she was unhappy with there not being an exact location set for the new build and felt that the 2 current hospitals were a lifeline for many parents.
This was the first of two demonstrations planned today. The other is being held at the Belle Vue Centre at 6:30pm and is set to be a much larger protest, this is to further reinforce their disapproval in the council’s decision.
The consultation, documents and decisions have all been published on the Gloucestershire County Council’s webcasting site.
