Protesters braved the bitter cold yesterday to demonstrate against the swingeing cuts proposed for Beverley's Westwood Hospital and three hospitals at Driffield, Hornsea and Withernsea.
The East Riding of Yorkshire Primary Care Trust – which has a deficit of more than £20m – is proposing to replace the beds at the community hospitals with 60 overnight beds at three main hospitals, including Bridlington and Goole, and send other patients to private care homes across the county.
But campaigners fear the removal of the Westwood's 12 beds could be the final nail in the coffin for the hospital, potentially a prime site for development.
Many in the crowd, who marched to the hospital, spoke of how much they valued it and its staff.
Sandy and Roger Murray drove to its minor injuries unit from Leeds when their six-year-old daughter fell off her scooter last April leaving her with a nasty cut to her forehead. Mr Murray said: "When we came back from Leeds it was Good Friday and we knew that we'd be able to get straight in."
One woman, who declined to be named, said she had depended on the hospital for help looking after her mentally ill son. "I have rung them on numerous occasions for advice and help; they have been absolutely wonderful. I'm sure they have saved his life and my sanity."
Graham Stuart, Conservative MP for Beverley and Holderness, said: "The real frustration for local people is that the primary care trust is unelected and unaccountable and carrying out Government policy at arm's length.
"We have Ministers, including the chairman of the Labour Party, going on protests in their own constituencies – an amazing display of hypocrisy and incompetence leaving people feeling frustrated and powerless while the talk is ever more of listening to people."
Beverley Health Action Group chairman Coun John Bird was delighted with the turnout: "I think it is excellent considering that it is very, very cold and it's New Year's Day and a lot of people will still be celebrating. It shows how strong our resolve and determination is to keep these community beds open."
Coun Polly Worsdale, one of the campaigners who prevented closure of Hornsea Cottage Hospital last year, said the trust had said it wanted to knock it down and build a private nursing home on the site.
She said: "People are worried about the quality of care. The big question is who is going to pay? They might start off as NHS beds – but is there going to be assessment?"
Campaigners will hold four more demonstrations in each of the towns on each Saturday in March. But they wanted to hold one as soon as possible in Beverley because of concern over three related planning applications by Humber Mental Health Teaching NHS Trust seeking to knock down redundant facilities at West House, on the Westwood site, and develop a car park.
The mental health trust says the buildings are redundant and the site is up for sale to any interested developers.
Formal consultation over the PCT's proposals began last November and will continue until March.
No one was available to comment yesterday from the PCT. But it has said the changes will cost between £7m and £8m over the next two years "so that more patients can be treated as close to home as possible".
It said the consultation process "will give the public the opportunity to help decide what services are provided from which sites".