The Missing Generations:

At this time of remembrance (11th November) as I think of all those who gave their lives to enable us to make choices I cast my mind over all those meetings I have attended in the fight to save our hospitals.
I have attended a number of P.C.T meetings and some called by other interested parties. At the 16th September meeting at St; John’s church, organised by the Save Felixstowe Hospitals action committee, there were approximately 550 attending; most, like me would be classed as “getting on a bit”. What was very disappointing were the few in the 40 years and below age range in attendance.

I accept that when you are working hard, looking after a family and have many demands on your time you may not give much thought to attend meetings, especially protest meetings. But it will be too late to protest when the hospitals and other facilities have gone and you have an emergency with your child.

I wonder are current community affairs debated in school? If not maybe they should be. It is the availability of hospitals to a local community which should concern them, as it will be their medical needs and those of their children which will be affected most. This may be a political issue, but it is with a small p. All aspects of life can be classed as political but in this case, and I refer again to the meeting at St, Johns, the panel answering the questions, who were all against hospital closures, were from across the Political spectrum.
We need to discuss with our young people the consequences of hospital closures, the loss of beds, minor injury units and mental health facilities. We must go through the “what if” scenario with them of having to travel to Ipswich when, even on a good day, after waiting for an ambulance, could mean a delay of at least an hour before they or their loved ones arrive at the hospital.

We need the younger members of the county marching alongside us old ones, fighting for the quality of their present and future health care as well as ours. Come and join us for together we can make a difference.

Moving to someone else who doesn’t think it is anything to do with them I read with incredulity Patricia Hewitt’s disingenuous statement in the EADT (November 16th) that, “PCTs must find a way of remedying their financial struggle to overcome a multi-million pound budget shortfall and she would not intervene”; remind you of a guy called Pontius Pilot? He too washed his hands of the death of an innocent. May I remind Patricia Hewitt she is the Minister with responsibility for all of the NHS and it is she who has placed this intolerable time period for debt repayment – now about 16 months - on the PCTs and this is why they are compelled to take such draconian measures to meet her target date.

Many people will suffer and some will die because of these quite unnecessary changes but by then Patricia Hewitt and her Trolls will have moved on to know doubt cause more havoc else ware.

Barry Farr