Stafford hospital crisis: Bosses to be quizzed over A&E

The move comes as the Express & Star petition demanding the service reopen immediately has reached almost 3,000 signatures in under a week.

University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust will tomorrow hold their annual general meeting at the County Hospital site on Weston Road. Representatives from the Support Stafford Hospital group have confirmed they will attend to demand answers over why children's emergency services across the way have been declared 'clinically unsafe' and suspended.

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Since August 25 under 18s have been told to go elsewhere and this week the trust said it would not be fully reopened for at least another ten weeks while a review takes place. Treatment for minor injuries for children is set to be reinstated earlier.

Campaigners claim the trust has not fully explained why the unit was suddenly shut down without any prior warning.

Julian Porter, from the SSH group, said: "There will be a number of us at the meeting. I am not happy that it will not be open for at least another 10 weeks. The A&E should be opened back up tomorrow.

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"They already have paediatric nurses in there that have over 20 years experience. They don't get really, really sick children in Stafford anymore anyway because the ambulances don't take them there. I am still none-the-wiser as to what has exactly changed?The trust need to tell us in more detail."

Stafford MP Jeremy Lefroy also voiced his discontent at announcement services would continue to be suspended until mid-November. He said: "I am still very concerned and very disappointed there will not be a children's emergency unit for at least 10 weeks.

"I have spoken with the chief executive and I am pleased at least some kind of service will be open as soon as possible."

Despite the Express & Star campaign calling on Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt to reopen the children's emergency centre immediately, which has so far been backed by more than 2,800 people, he has remained silent on the issue.

When the suspension was first announced UHNM stated it had come after national standards for what was considered safe in A&E paediatric care had risen in the last 12 months.

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health said health chiefs from County Hospital would visit a hospital in the South West where a children's minor injuries unit is co-located alongside an adult A&E, in a bid to replicate how it is run.h