“See the problem!! Marcus Warnes & CCGs need to realise the number of hospital beds available are not a cause of problems. No professional simply fills a bed!!….. or keeps someone in a bed without reason.

THE FACTS PURE AND SIMPLE ARE THAT HOSPITALS PICK UP THE PIECES WHEN HOME CARE/COMMUNITY CARE FAILS.

No one presents at hospital if they have alternatives. To roll out community bed closures such as those at Longton Cottage Hospital in the present climate is at best naive… at worst going to make the crisis in the NHS so dire that politicians will proclaim the service cannot be sustained.

The victims? Each and everyone of us who have spent their working lives contributing to our NHS. Community bed closures are an easy target, the money saved/diverted from them to community care a drop in the ocean!! Don’t remove the safety net until you’re sure a fall won’t result. When Royal Stoke is gridlocked it will put everyone in danger……Think! speak out”

Irene Sutton – Senior NHS nurse