Councillors unite to support Save the Alex motion (From Bromsgrove Advertiser)
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Councillors unite to support Save the Alex motion
2:30pm Friday 20th July 2012 in Local
Campaign: Labour leader Councillor Peter McDonald, who proposed a motion supporting the Save the Alex campaign, with fellow Labour councillors in campaign t-shirts.
BROMSGROVE councillors put politics aside to unanimously pass a motion showing their support for the Save The Alex campaign.
As part of a huge shake up of hospital services the Alexandra Hospital could lose its accident and emergency department, other services, or simply end up being closed.
The motion was proposed by opposition leader, Labour councillor Peter McDonald, at the latest full council meeting on July 18.
It states the council fully support the community-led campaign, totally opposed to the closure of the A & E and maternity service, at the Redditch-based hospital.
It requests Heath Minister Andrew Lansley MP meet the leaders of Bromsgrove, Redditch and Stratford-on-Avon councils, who will argue the case.
It also stresses the council will vigorously represent the council’s position to health chiefs, and push for alternatives to be pursued that could safeguard the hospital’s services.
Presenting the motion to the chamber, Coun McDonald described the proposals as “outrageous” and said the reasons behind them that he had heard, “saddened him”.
Coun McDonald said: “People are living longer. Are they saying we don’t have the right to enjoy quality of life?
“These proposals have set tremors through the populations of Bromsgrove, and Redditch.”
At one point there was doubt whether his motion would be passed as leader of the council, Councillor Roger Hollingworth, said he disagreed with a line which stated the potential loss of services was because going forward the NHS has a lot less money.
Coun Hollingworth argued this was wrong because, in absolute terms, there was more money in the NHS not less.
Coun McDonald said the motion was too important an issue to get bogged down in politics, so agreed to drop the lines on which there was not full agreement.
After thanking the Labour leader, Coun Hollingworth said: “It is important we do work together on this.
“We are all singing from the same hymn sheet.”
