Calls for emergency service to be reinstated in Merseyside town

More than 20 years after the closure of Southport and Formby District Hospital's children's accident and emergency department, people are being urged to have their say on the future of care in the area.

The Mersey and West Lancashire NHS Trust is welcoming input into what the future of emergency healthcare looks like for Southport Hospital as it holds several public meetings in the area to gauge what people want from the NHS service.

The meetings are part of the Shaping Care Together programme which is looking for views on how it intends to provide safe, high-quality urgent and emergency care services. Public meetings have been held in Southport and Aughton has seen local NHS leaders outline the programme's ambitions and listen to those locally.

Southport MP Patrick Hurley took the announcement of the programme to call on the Trust to reinstate the children's A&E department, with children currently having to travel to Ormskirk A&E for emergency care, and after midnight having to travel to Alder Hey. The department had previously been a 24-hour service until the Covid-19 pandemic when it announced it would close between midnight and 8am.

READ MORE: Man, 18, stabbed in alleyway near Heron Foods in broad daylight

READ MORE: Woman slashed 55 miles from Merseyside led police to 'Boris line'

In a social media post, Mr Hurley said: "Our town’s children and families deserve top-notch emergency healthcare around the clock. At present, families have to travel to Ormskirk or even as far as Liverpool for care, which means children in need of urgent treatment often face journeys of over 45 minutes. This situation is unacceptable.

"Our town is big enough to justify a full, functioning emergency department for both adults and children. Having a dedicated Children’s A&E would mean quicker response times, less stress for parents, and, most importantly, better health outcomes for our children."

He then went on to encourage people to sign a petition urging the trust to implement the changes, with 155 people signing the petition at the time of writing.

Rob Cooper, Managing Director at Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said: "It’s really important that we see and hear the views of as many local people as possible as we look to develop services that are fit for the future. We are really grateful to everyone who has been to the meetings and asked questions so far because hearing a range of views through these events helps us better understand the needs and experiences of the people who use and rely on our services.’’

The next public meeting is at the Holy Trinity Church Parish Hall in Formby on Monday, September 30 between 5.30pm and 7pm. He added: "We have to stress that at this stage of the programme no decisions have been made about the future shape of services and all options remain on the table but the feedback we gather will greatly help develop options for how to organise services in our area.”

There will also be online meetings held on Tuesday, October 1, at 11am and 6pm which are open to all.

Members of the public need to register for the events which are all listed on the programme’s dedicated website https://yoursayshapingcaretogether.co.uk/ along with details of how to book. If you can’t make any of the public events there are still a number of ways to get involved and share your views. You can fill out the public survey here and you can contact the team directly by email, post or phone messaging service (see website for how).