Jeremy Lefroy: Fight for 24-hour A&E in Stafford must continue
Stafford MP Jeremy Lefroy has warned the town will not get its 24-hour A&E back unless people fight for it.
On the back of comfortably holding his seat in the General Election by a 7,000 plus majority the Conservative MP defiantly re-iterated that County Hospital needs around-the-clock emergency care - which it has not had since it was reduced to 14 hours in 2011.
But he has come under fire from the Support Stafford Hospital (SSH) group which has argued the site at Weston Road is more likely to lose its A&E than have it restored to 24 hours, stating Mr Lefroy should ‘just be honest’ about the future of the hospital.
But speaking to the Express & Star the MP has hit back and defended his comments.
He said: "I have always said Stafford needs a 24-hour A&E and it is something I continue to believe we need to see.
"We have a 14-hour A&E which is meeting targets. But as the population grows in the town it should be open 24 hours.
"I am not saying it is going to happen tomorrow but I will continue, as I have done since 2011, to make the case because it makes sense.
"I understand the trust may feel they don't have the staff of there is a problem with the finances.
"But the problem is if you stop making the case people will think it is fine and it will go away altogether."
Mr Lefroy added: "We have not achieved it in the last five years but people have been saying we should close it and together with the Support Stafford Hospital group we have managed to convince them we need the A&E open."
In response to Mr Lefroy's post-election comments Julian Porter from the SSH group said: "There is no children's A&E at Stafford now and there will be no adult A&E.
"It will just be a hospital for elective surgery to make money for the trust.
“What they will say is that staff don’t want to work there anymore and that it is unsafe.
“This is what happens when you take away the back-up services, you take away maternity, paediatrics.
"Jeremy has been a decent bloke and has done some good things but I don't know why he said that, especially after he had already been elected.
"He must know exactly what is going on with the hospital he should just be honest and blunt about it."
