Leader calls for community to unite against service cuts

A date for a mass rally has now been set and Foreign Secretary and Richmondshire MP, William Hague, will address the crowds that gather to protest against plans to switch the Friarage Hospital’s maternity and paediatric units to James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough.

Now, the leader of Richmondshire Council, Coun John Blackie, is urging supporters of the campaign to mount public pressure on the NHS and has called on North Yorkshire communities to stage their own individual protest during a consultation on the proposals.

He said: “The Fight for the Friarage has absolutely rock solid support amongst the 150,000 people in the communities across the 75 miles of rural North Yorkshire the hospital serves. 

“A meeting I amongst others addressed in Northallerton attracted 400 people, all of whom were incredibly concerned, and most were outraged, by the proposals to transfer the services to the James Cook.

“This support needs to be translated into public pressure on the NHS and I ask that all district councillors encourage all the individual health communities in or serving their wards, be it mothers-to-be circles, playgroups, schools, grandparents get-togethers, social and voluntary organisations and so on, to make their own individual protest during the forthcoming public engagement period lasting between now and June.

“The more of these individual contributions that are made, the better as it will demonstrate that the proposals are hitting out at the whole spectrum of the unique extended family network we have here in North Yorkshire.”

The protest rally will take place in Northallerton on the afternoon of Saturday, May 5 and it is expected to attract over 3,000 people.

The crowds will assemble in the grounds of County Hall and expecting mothers will lead a march through the town centre to the Friarage Hospital itself. An exact time has yet to be confirmed.

The Yorkshire Post revealed last week that William Hague would speak at the protest after adding his voice to the campaign following a meeting earlier this month with the leaders of North Yorkshire County Council and Hambleton and Richmondshire District Councils.

Mr Hague claims the move would leave Yorkshire Dales mothers-to-be with what will be one of the longest journeys to access key services in England and he understood to have already met Health Secretary Andrew Lansley over the closure.

Mr Lansley has now been confirmed to be visiting the Upper Dales Health Watch in Hawes on March 15 in order to discuss the proposed changes, which if accepted could come into force early next year.

There has been a growing backlash against the controversial plans, which follow a review by the National Clinical Advisory Team (NCAT) and go out for a three-month public engagement exercise next month ahead of a formal public consultation.

More than 1,250 babies were born in 2010-11 at the Friarage Hospital in Northallerton, making it the smallest maternity unit in the country.

But leading specialists are warning it is unsustainable to maintain full paediatric services at the hospital which will have a knock-on impact on maternity care.

Coun Blackie said: “There is complete agreement that James Cook University Hospital is an excellent hospital for complex healthcare episodes such as heart by-pass and cancer. The problem is that for nearly all the residents of Richmondshire, it is too far away to provide the unpredictable yet urgent care required when having a baby.”  

The South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs both the Friarage and James Cook hospitals, says it is considering the NCAT report.