Colin and Carol Pitt of New Street say hospital is vital for Ludlow's future (From Ludlow Advertiser)

Colin and Carol Pitt of New Street say hospital is vital for Ludlow's future

8:00am Saturday 19th May 2012 in Letters

MY wife and I attended the recent SALT meeting at the old Bishop Mascal Centre and I listened with interest to both Doctor Cooke and Doctor Yarham’s observations concerning the proposed new hospital to be built on the Eco Park site.

Doctor Cooke commented on how the surgeries had progressed from being in Broad Street to the present day sites in the Portcullis and Station Drive and how they have difficulty in coping with the ever increasing number of patients due to the size and positions of the surgeries as they care for over 17,000 patients.

I, together with hundreds of Ludlow residents remember attending the surgeries in Broad Street ran by Doctor Egan, Doctor Roberts and Doctor Caldwell in the 1940’s and 1950’s.

We also had the Cottage Hospital in College Street when on most Wednesdays Mr Battey and Mr Pollock, surgeons, would travel down from Shrewsbury to carry out minor surgery.

I cannot understand for one minute why a small band of residents want to jeopardise the building of the new hospital.

Having been informed by Philip Dunne and the doctors concerned if these protestors keep up their demands for a surgery to be kept in the town then the chances are that we will lose the hospital. Surely we should be more concerned for the younger generations and generations to come who should have all the facilities that the new hospital would bring including, chemotherapy and other treatments that at present people have to travel to Shrewsbury, Telford or Hereford for. Not to mention the cost of travelling that this will save pensioners and families.

If we say no to this hospital what happens when Ludlow Hospital needs investment for repairs and modernisation? It is an ideal opportunity for the powers that be to say it is too expensive to maintain and it could be closed.

Who would blame them after we have turned down the opportunity of having a newhospital.

Bearing in mind the majority of the patients who currently use the existing surgeries travel by either public transport, private car or have to walk a considerable distance so what is all the fuss about?

So come on sign the petitions at the surgeries or online in support of bringing a new hospital to Ludlow.

COLIN AND CAROL PITT NEW STREET LUDLOW