Call for rethink on closure plan at Stafford Hospital A&E

The trust running Stafford Hospital will be urged to rethink the idea of closing its accident and emergency department overnight after local councillors agreed to protest at the plans.

Rugeley councillors fear people might face long journeys to hospitals in Walsall and Wolverhampton during closure periods.

The troubled hospital is in the midst of a staffing crisis.

It has only been able to keep its A&E open around the clock in recent weeks thanks to two Army doctors and four military nurses being drafted in until January.

Chairman of the Cannock Chase Council health scrutiny committee, Councillor Ann Bernard, warned a full meeting of the council last night that the extra medics and nurses could have to be taken away in the event of a major military incident.

Councillor Frank Allen said that because of financial restrictions and staffing issues the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust was proposing shutting A&E between 10pm and 6am.

"It is not on for people from this area to have to go to Walsall Manor and Stoke-on-Trent in the early hours of the morning," he said. "We need cross-party agreement to send a strongly worded letter to the trust chairman Sir Stephen Moss deploring that situation and asking them to rethink."