Snacks shop for hospital

The restaurant at Cannock Chase Hospital is to be closed and replaced with a shop selling hot snacks and sandwiches.

Officials have confirmed the restaurant will close as part of a plan to move services into the top two floors. Currently there are nine part-time and one full-time worker in the restaurant.

The trust says it will be consulting them about what other jobs may be available.

Bosses at Mid Staffordshire General Hospitals NHS Trust are also in negotiations to get a retail shop serving sandwiches and hot snacks to visitors. This new shop will be based in the old League of Friends shop on the first floor which has been vacant since the League pulled out of the hospital criticising its management.

The closure of the restaurant marks the latest in a series of moves by the hospital to clear the bottom floor which is now being seen as a likely home for a new health centre operated by South Staffordshire PCT.

The trust has carried out a consultation with staff and partner agencies on how to make the best use of the hospital and closing the restaurant is seen as the next step.

Cannock Chase Hospital League of Friends chairman Ethel Powell said she was shocked to hear news of the closure.

She said: "It is absolutely disgusting. They have wrecked the hospital. It was thriving before they went in and now everything is about money."

The trust say changes to how health services are provided have meant services are nearer to patients homes and as a result parts of the hospital are under-used.

Patients' meals will continue to be prepared in the kitchens at the hospital.