Nuneaton MP Marcus Jones and North Warwickshire MP Dan Byles today vowed to fight all the way to retain obstetric, paediatric and maternity services at the George Eliot Hospital.
Marcus, who recently praised the maternity service and its staff at the Eliot when his wife Suzanne gave birth to their second child there in September, has been quick to question why the pre-consultation papers seem to look to review services in the North of Warwickshire when the Primary Care Trust are responsible for commissioning such services across the whole Coventry and Warwickshire area.
Both Marcus and Dan are adamant that once the Primary Care Trust does come forward with a consultation document on services at the Eliot they are expecting a full and proper consultation with a genuine option to retain safe and sustainable services at Nuneaton which can then be implemented.
Commenting on the news Marcus said:
“Yet again the PCT are trying to give the people of Nuneaton the thin end of the wedge, surely if they want to review these services it should be done across their commissioning area not just in Nuneaton and North Warwickshire.
“I am sceptical of this whole process and will continue to be unless we see a proper option for safe and sustainable services at the George Eliot which can be implemented, we have a high level of need for these services to be retained in Nuneaton and I will fight tooth and nail to keep these services here.
“I am convinced that as a community, together we can really make a strong case to the decision makers to retain these services and would call on everyone locally to work together to achieve the right result.”
North Warwickshire MP Dan Byles commented:
"I am very concerned at the suggestion that the PCT is considering moving services from the George Eliot to UHCW. I believe the George Eliot has been starved of resources for too long, and I want to see a plan for the future that builds on the good work of our local clinical services, and not one that seeks to downgrade them.
"I expect the PCT to ensure that any consultation includes a robust option to maintain services at the George Eliot site, and I will be supporting the George Eliot and pushing hard for that option.”