Nuneaton MP Marcus Jones and North Warwickshire MP Dan Byles have strongly welcomed the decision by The Arden Cluster that they are to scrap a consultation that could have seen maternity and other related services at the George Eliot axed.

It has been announced that maternity, paediatric and obstetric services at the George Eliot hospital have been saved and will continue to be provided from the current Nuneaton site.

This represents a victory for local campaigners such as the two Members of Parliament, who have worked closely with all interested parties to keep these services local.

The two active MPs have been strong supporters of maintaining services at the Eliot. They have attended numerous meetings with hospital bosses, the PCT, the shadow GP commissioning consortia and the health secretary about this issue in recent months.

Commenting on the announcement, Marcus said: “I am absolutely delighted that maternity and related services will be staying at the George Eliot Hospital. This has been a worrying time for many people in the town and the decision to choose option 6 is the right one.

“I am still concerned about the provision of in-patient paediatrics and the likely closure of the Caterina Ward under option 6. We must acknowledge that all of the professionals are are saying that in-patient paediatrics cannot continue to be provided at the hospital – however we must be absolutely certain that there is sufficient capacity elsewhere for children to use these services”

Adding, North Warwickshire and Bedworth MP, Dan Byles, said: “This is excellent news. Marcus and I have been fighting for this outcome ever since the consultation was announced, and we have pulled every string we can to save these services. Well done to everybody who have been involved in this campaign.

"We now need to crack on with putting our local GPs in charge of commissioning health services for local people, so we never again face a distant bureaucratic body like the Primary Care Trust making decisions that negatively impact on our community like this one would have."