Heatherwood hospital - residents urged to attend special meeting

The Royal Borough is stepping up its campaign to save Heatherwood hospital and urging residents to have their say on the future of the Ascot hospital at a special meeting to be held later this month.

The special meeting of the council's adult services and health overview and scrutiny panel will be held in the Pavilion at Ascot Racecourse at 7pm on Monday 21 November to give members of the public the chance to ask questions about the future of the Ascot hospital and help shape consultation due to be carried out early next year.

The meeting follows the announcement from NHS Berkshire that it needs to make savings of £37m this year - with £21m to come from East Berkshire.

The Royal Borough has been campaigning to retain hospital services at Heatherwood for some time and is now calling on residents to submit questions to be asked at the meeting.

Cllr Sayonara Luxton, chairman of the scrutiny panel and ward councillor for Sunningdale, said: "It is vital that residents get the answers to a wide range of questions so that they can have a meaningful input into the way the forthcoming consultation is carried out.

"Heatherwood hospital is a real lifeline for people living in the south of the borough - and many of our more vulnerable, elderly residents would find it impossible to make the journey to Wexham Park hospital if all services were moved there as has been suggested as an option.

"We are committed to keeping local health facilities in Ascot and will continue to fight on our residents' behalf to keep Heatherwood open - but now we need everyone's help and support to keep the fight going. So please submit your questions and come along to the special meeting on 21 November."

Attending the meeting will be representatives of NHS Berkshire and Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Invitations have also been sent to Windsor MP Adam Afriyie, Home Secretary and Maidenhead MP Theresa May, Slough MP Fiona MacTaggart and Dr Phillip Lee, MP for Bracknell.

Questions should be submitted in advance of the meeting by Saturday 19 November to either Cllr Sayonara Luxton, chairman of the scrutiny panel at sayonara.luxton@hotmail.co.uk, by email to democratic.services@rbwm.gov.uk or by post to Democratic Services, Town Hall, St Ives Road, Maidenhead, Berkshire SL6 1RF. The scrutiny panel will ensure that residents' questions are put to members of Berkshire NHS and the trust.

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