A RALLY is being planned as a last ditch attempt to force a change of heart over the loss of health services from Hemel Hempstead.
Campaigners are hoping thousands will turn out in Gadebridge Park on November 16 with personal letters they have written to Prime Minister Gordon Brown begging for a rethink.
The letters will be collected in a giant mailbox and then taken by MP Mi
ke Penning to Number 10.
The day of action was announced at a public meeting called by Dacorum Hospital Action Group (DHAG) to highlight the state of the local NHS.
Around 60 people turned out on Friday evening (October 17) at Hemel Hempstead Civic Centre to vent their anger and learn more about the complex changes under way.
The meeting was dominated by concerns about A&E being replaced with an urgent care centre next March, and the new GP-led health centre that will sit alongside it.
Many fear the health centre, which could be privately run, will result in worse care for patients and lead to the closure of existing GP surgeries.
DHAG chairman Zena Bullmore said the changes were being driven by the need to save money.
"They have shown they don't care two hoots about us," she told the meeting.
"They are only interested in balancing their books, reducing their deficit.
"They have done it by cutting services, not by being more efficient."
Mr Penning was concerned it was unclear what treatment the urgent care centre would offer or whether children could be seen properly there.
He was also angered by the decision to send all overnight blue-light emergencies to Watford from November, ahead of the official closure of A&E next March.
West Herts Hospitals NHS Trust says the decision has been taken on staffing grounds.
"It worries me that the town is giving up and looking at the numbers here tonight perhaps the town is giving up," the MP said.
"We have to continue to fight.
"Me and Zena will be lying in front of the bulldozer – I hope we're not the only two lying there.
"Why is Watford getting all this development, all this money, and we're getting sweet fanny adams?"
Tring GP Tony Hall-Jones said the new health centre would mean impersonal care for patients.
"You will cease to become patients, you will take your number and become a piece of paper," he said.
"This polyclinic is about settling the final score and getting rid of Hemel hospital once and for all.
"It will take the death of some of you out there to bring them to their senses."
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