Councillor and campaign group deliver giant card to Grantham Hospital
The people of Grantham got the chance to express their gratitude to the staff at Grantham Hospital by signing one of two giant Christmas cards, which was then hand delivered to the hospital on Christmas Eve.
South Kesteven District Councillor Ian Selby came up with the idea following the announcement by the United Lincolnshire Hospital Trust (ULHT) not to re-open Grantham A&E overnight at a meeting earlier this month.
He said: “I wanted a way to show the staff at Grantham Hospital how much we appreciate and value everything they do for us despite everything that has been going on recently.
“I thought that while we were thanking the staff, it would also be a good opportunity for the public to tell the ULHT board what they think about the A&E closure as a way to make their voices heard yet again.”
After getting two four foothigh Christmas cards printed by Print Bureau, Coun Selby and Fighting 4 Grantham Hospital (F4GH) set up a stall inside the Isaac Newton Shopping Centre on Friday to give the public the chance to sign both cards and add comments if they wanted to.
Roger Franklin was one of the first to sign. He said: “I have been in Grantham Hospital three times in the past five years and have always received such an excellent service from all of the staff. I couldn’t have asked for better.
“As for the ULHT, well it is disgraceful that they have closed the unit overnight.”
Lynn and Barry Selby also wanted to show their support.
Lynn said; “We live in Skillington which is 40 miles from Lincoln Hospital. We simply can’t get there. The closure is going to have a severe impact on the town, especially as more houses are being built. Grantham needs an A&E, everybody knows that, apart from the people making the decision.”
Grantham mayor Mike Cook was also keen to show his support and signed both cards.
He said: “Congratulations goes to Coun Ian Selby for organising such a display. The support from the public has been very good. It goes to show that A&E needs to be kept open.”
Coun Selby and members from hospital campaign group Fighting 4 Grantham Hospital hand delivered the card to Grantham Hospital on Christmas Eve along with some home made mince pies.
Coun Selby said: “The public were delighted to sign the cards to show their appreciation for our staff and keen to take to express their concerns to the trust. Many thanks to the A&E staff for receiving and displaying the Christmas card.”
I hope the staff enjoyed the mince pies”.
