To my huge dismay, this week the NHS announced they are significantly cutting the hours of the Urgent Treatment Centre at Crawley Hospital so it will no longer be open 24 hours and instead only open between 7.30am and 10pm.

This has been presented as “temporary”, but the NHS should be upfront with residents that this is planned indefinitely, as there is no intention to return to previous arrangements, only that they will monitor it for six months.  Shockingly, the announcement admits they cannot continue to provide adequate cover 24 hours within existing resources, or otherwise provide “safe staffing levels”.

Anyone visiting the UTC face many hours of waiting as it is.  I cannot imagine how much worse it will be when everything and everyone is concentrated into attending the UTC in an even shorter period.

I have asked Crawley Borough Council to make the strongest representations opposing this to the Community Trust.

I strongly condemn the political decisions which have resulted in the loss of this 24-hour provision.

The underfunding and mismanagement of the NHS under the Conservatives has resulted in many residents being unable to access GP care or dentistry when they need it, some of the longest waiting times in the country for treatments for conditions such as cancer, and with A&E waiting times over six-times the NHS’s national target.

This decision will only make these problems worse and force more patients to seek treatment out of town at greater cost to both themselves and the NHS.

14 years on from winning the constituency with a promise that they would build a new hospital for Crawley, the Conservatives are instead leaving the town with the worst health services in its history.

It is increasingly clear that nothing is working under the Tories, they have driven the country into the ground.  There is a record high NHS waiting list, crippling housing costs, widespread food poverty, roads riddled with potholes, stagnant wages, a broken social care system, dire mental health services and closed Sure Start centres.

We need competent people in charge and at this time that only means a Labour Government.

Cllr Michael Jones

Leader, Crawley Borough Council