Halton residents urged to fight plans to move emergency vascular surgery to Chester and Liverpool

Feb 22 2012 by Oliver Clay, Runcorn and Widnes Weekly News

A CAMPAIGN has been launched to fight a plan to stop life-saving surgery for circulation problems at Halton and Warrington hospitals.

Councillors including Ellen Cargill, Carol Plumpton-Walsh and other members of the borough’s health scrutiny board are ‘very concerned’ about the proposals, which would mean that patients would need to travel to Chester or Liverpool for emergency vascular procedures.

The councillors claim that longer journey times and motorway traffic jams could put lives at risk.

If given the green light, vascular surgery at Halton, Warrington and Whiston hospitals would end. Cllr Cargill said the three sites had submitted a joint bid which was rejected by the Merseyside and Cheshire primary care trusts’ clusters of GPs.

Public consultation on the vascular services is ongoing for the next two months.

The backlash against the scheme picked up a gear this week as Cllr Plumpton-Walsh announced an online petition which could force a parliamentary debate if it reaches 100,000 signatures.