Reopen Stafford's A&E to children IMMEDIATELY - Sign our petition NOW
The Express & Star is making an impassioned plea to readers to help re-open Stafford County Hospital's A&E department to children by signing our online petition to Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt.
In a shock move, the Children's Emergency Centre (CEC) closed to everyone under the age of 18 last week.
Click here to sign our petition on Change.org now
And it will be at least another 10 weeks before the department reopens.
The move has left parents facing an agonising drive to other hospitals of up to an hour so their poorly children can receive treatment.
We need your support to protect the lives of youngsters in Staffordshire by getting the children's A&E unit re-opened without delay.
Have you had to drive your youngster to a hospital miles away after the unit shut its doors?
Call E&S newsdesk on 01902 319410 or email newsdesk@expressandstar.co.uk
The petition, which can be accessed at change.org, reads:
"Children are being turned away from Stafford's A&E department, even though it remains open to adults. They are being forced to undertake journeys of up to an hour to be treated elsewhere.
"Families have spoken of being turned away, with injured children not even being given pain relief. In 2013, up to 40,000 people took part in a march to save Stafford's hospital.
"Since then, its services have been gradually run down or removed.
"The A&E department is now not open 24 hours and fears are growing that it will soon be closed completely, leaving more than 130,000 people at risk.
"We need YOUR support to stop this happening - to protect children and save lives in the process. Please support and share our petition to re-open the A&E unit to children IMMEDIATELY. Thank you."
