Pilgrim Hospital SOS gathers support

A petition launched in a bid to stop Boston's Pilgrim Hospital from potentially being downgraded has reached more than 3,600 signatures in just over a week.
Pilgrim Hospital in Boston. ANL-160305-164508001Pilgrim Hospital in Boston. ANL-160305-164508001
Pilgrim Hospital in Boston. ANL-160305-164508001

The protest was launched as part of the Boston Focus Group’s SOS Pilgrim campaign – which follows more than three years of reviews into the county’s healthcare.

It is feared as part of that services - including maternity - could be downgraded at Pilgrim or moved to a single site in
the county.

The petition on the Government’s online petition site calls on United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust, which runs the site, not to downgrade services.

Philip Bosworth, who chairs the group, said: “It obviously shows people care very much about the local delivery of NHS services.

“It’s very indicative of the whole concern that everyone would have should those emergency services move away from Boston Pilgrim and people making the effort to share with each other shows the depth of feeling and depth of concern.”

The Lincolnshire Health and Care (LHAC) review began in 2013 but its final outcomes have been delayed, most recently due to NHS England’s Sustainability and TransformationPlans (STP).

When the reviews began, the public was told by hospital bosses that doing nothing was ‘simply not an option’ and that by 2018 NHS organisations in the county could have a combined budget deficit of upwards of £100m per year.

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