Reader's letter: New Horsham hospital and A&E is as urgent as it was nearly a decade ago

Insufficient provision

Last week’s issue carried an article covering the shameful lack of sufficient hospital provision in the Horsham area.

Councillor Christine Costin drew attention to the current chaos at East Surrey Hospital and the fact that most of the main hospitals in the south east are bursting at the seams.

Another part of the paper (the “Retro” section) harked back to the protest movement in June 2014 when local people were demonstrating about the prospect of a huge new development of 2,750 homes on green field land north of Horsham.

At first sight these two articles would not appear to have a lot in common, but I remember that when the idea of the North of Horsham development was first mooted, the carrot of a new hospital on the site was dangled in front of existing residents.

Even back then the need of Accident and Emergency provision in the local area was urgent.

Sadly, planning permission was granted, without any provision for a new hospital being a condition of approval.

Now, all these years later, there is still no sign of accident and emergency facilities being provided for the ever-growing population of Horsham and its surrounding villages.

It’s amazing to think that since the A & E Department at Crawley Hospital was closed down years ago, the nearest A & E is many miles away in another county – at East Surrey Hospital in Redhill.

Woe betide anyone who has a heart attack or is involved in a bad road accident in or near Horsham.

Not only would they have to wait for an ambulance to arrive, but then the journey to the nearest A & E in Redhill would involve traffic congestion and hold-ups along the way due to all the new developments in the area.

I call on Jeremy Quin, MP for Horsham, to do all he can to assist his constituents in the call for a new hospital with A & E provision for this area.

Mind how you go!

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