MORE than 5,000 people have signed a petition in Purbeck calling for health chiefs to abandon controversial plans to close Poole Hospital’s A&E department.

Residents are also concerned about a proposal to create a number of community hubs, in place of Dorset’s existing cottage hospitals, which could spell the closure of Wareham Hospital and the subsequent loss of 16

beds.

NHS Dorset CCG (Clinical Commissioning Group) launched its Clinical Services Review (CSR) in October 2014, to help combat the projected increase in health service demand and a potential funding gap of £158m a year by 2020.

Residents only have until the end of February to comment on the proposals, which also include the closure of Poole Hospital’s maternity unit.

Cherry Bartlett, who organised the Purbeck petition, said: “Nothing should close - we have a massive rural population around here. People are really worried.

“They want to close Wareham Hospital and build a health hub on the old Wareham Middle School site. But this would not include any beds, so we’d be losing 16 beds.

“My argument is that if you are

going to build a hub, build it with beds.”

On the Poole Hospital A&E and maternity unit issue, Cherry explained: “People have been so receptive, the biggest concerns we’re hearing is that people feel they won’t be able to access Royal Bournemouth Hospital.

“We are all told about this ‘golden hour’, that if you have a heart

attack you’ve got this hour to get to hospital.

“But at the moment it can take three hours for an ambulance to get out to Swanage and Wareham.

“Everyone is just so worried about the time issues involved in these proposals.”

The petition will be handed in at the CCG’s Dorchester headquarters - Vespasian House - next week.

Cherry, from Panorama Road, Swanage, said: “We’ve been doing this petition every Saturday for the past couple of weeks and we now have more than 5,000 signatures.

“The petition is about saving Poole A&E and the maternity services, and, of course, these local hubs.

“People are fearful about the future.”