Cossham campaigners hand out leaflets to people arriving at the Over-50s Forum in Mangotsfield today
Cossham Hospital supporters today lobbied people arriving at a meeting of the South Gloucestershire Over-50s Forum to highlight their ongoing campaign for a minor injuries unit.
Among the speakers at the forum, held at the Resound Centre in Mangotsfield, was a representative from Sirona Care & Health, which provides community health services, including the minor injuries unit (MIU) at Yate, to South Glos residents.
The local Clinical Commissioning Group gave Sirona the five-year contract worth £70m after “extensive patient and public engagement”.
Cossham campaigners gave out leaflets about Sirona and urged people to attend the meeting of South Glos Council’s Public Health & Health Scrutiny Committee at Kingswood Civic Centre on Wednesday 19th November when the MIU will be on the agenda.
Members and supporters of the Re-formed Save Cossham Hospital Group will meet in Kingswood Park at 9.30am before heading to the civic centre for the 10am meeting.
A total of 16,000 people have signed petitions calling on health chiefs to keep the promise of an MIU at Cossham Hospital as stated in the business plan for the refurbished £19m hospital which was saved from closure.
Although the CCG says it has not yet ruled out the MIU, it is looking at an overall strategy for urgent care services for South Gloucestershire and says a range of factors must be considered.
Campaigners say that since Frenchay Hospital closed earlier this year, with services transferred to the new superhospital at Southmead, the need for an MIU at Cossham is pressing.
