Hospital petition given to minister (From Free Press Series)

Hospital petition given to minister

A PETITION campaigning to keep Monmouth General Hospital open was presented to the Welsh health minister last week.

Gary Witcombe, of Watery Lane, has been campaigning to retain the hospital as a maternity unit or a hospice since 2000.

And during the past year Mr Witcombe has been collecting signatures all over Monmouth who share his views.

The petition with 1,000 signatures was presented to Jane Hutt the Welsh Health Minister at the Wales Assembly government.

Mr Witcombe explained to the minister that with the increased development in the town the hospital should be utilised to offer services that the planned Monnow Court Health Complex will not be offering.

Ms Hutt accepted the petition and said she would look into the situation. The services currently offered at the Monmouth Hospital will be transferred to the new Monnow Court health complex in 2006.

Mr Witcombe does however acknowledges that the number of births in Monmouth itself would not justify a maternity facility, but with a catchment area of a 20-mile radius, the facility could be as successful as the one in Lydney.

The plan has been described as a non-starter by the Monmouth Joint Health and Social Care group - the organisation behind the new Monnow Court health complex.

Claire Aston said: "Even a maternity hospital needs very modern facilities and the current building is not suitable for this sort of requirement."

In 1990 the Duke of Beaufort sold Monmouth Hospital to the Monmouth Hospital Charity to run the facility for the people of the town.

The deeds stated that the charity (ie the hospital) cannot be sold, but the buildings can be sub let on a seven-year lease.