Public meeting on Stafford Hospital's future
A consultant-led maternity unit is poised to be permanently lost from Stafford Hospital after health chiefs admitted it is 'not clinically sustainable', visitors to a public meeting to discuss the future of the hospital heard last night.
The Stafford and Surrounds Clinical Commissioning Group said it was not looking to commission a full obstetric unit at the hospital which has been earmarked to be downgraded and services moved elsewhere.
At a public meeting attended by around 150 Stafford Hospital supporters it was said critical would be on a case by case basis the A&E was expected to remain 14 hours seven days a week.
Campaigners told the meeting at Stafford Gatehouse that millions which will be invested in other hospitals to take on services should be invested in the Weston Road site.
It comes after recommendations from Trust Special Administrators to strip services from Stafford which are to go before health secretary Jeremy Hunt next month.
Reporter Craig Hughes reporting live from last night's meeting: