With less than 24 hours to go before the meeting scheduled weeks ago (for
3pm today, Thursday 25th October) with the Health Minister, John Hutton, to
discuss hospital provision in Lichfield and Burntwood, the meeting was
cancelled by the Minister who "has to go to Brussels". "I cannot believe
that the Minister did not know before 5pm yesterday – when we first heard
from him – that he had decided to cancel the meeting and go swanning off
to Brussels instead", says Michael Fabricant. "My office in Westminster
had the task of phoning at incredibly short notice the 11 delegates from
Staffordshire – Labour and Conservative councillors and charity workers –
to tell them not to come down to London. The arrogance and incompetence of
Government health ministers has now reached startling proportions. It is
imperative that we fix a another date soon for the meeting before the South
Staffordshire Health Authority plans are implemented. These are plans to
reduce hospital services in Lichfield and Burntwood and which, according to
the Health Authority’s own report, is opposed by the majority of local
people".