THOUSANDS of people angry about proposed cuts at Evesham Community Hospital are expected at a mass rally in the town's Market Square at 12 noon on Sunday.

And the rallying call comes as the Evesham Journal has massed nearly 16,000 signatures on its petition to stop the ward closures.

The Journal has also collected more than 200 letters to send to the Government backing the campaign.

"It is imperative we get as many people as possible there," said Councillor Frances Smith, Mayor of Evesham and chairman of The League of Friends of Evesham Community Hospital, heading the Save Our Hospital campaign.

She said: "This Sunday, the people of Evesham and surrounding villages will show that they are prepared to fight for their Community Hospital. The authorities need to take note."

In a direct appeal to residents, she said: "If you really care about keeping your hospital, you must come along and show solidarity."

The chief executive of the South Worcestershire Primary Care Trust, Mike Ridley is proposing a £4m cost-cutting exercise which involves the closure of The Willows specialist stroke unit and Bredon Orthopaedic Rehabilitation Ward and the withdrawal of GP services from Izod Ward. It means the loss of 38 beds and over 40 jobs.

The Mayor said: "Over half the hospital would be shut and our fear is that it would result in other departments becoming unviable leading eventually to the closure of the whole hospital and the site being sold off."

Former patients, doctors and Evesham MP Peter Luff will be among the speakers at the rally on Sunday.

Some 15,732 people have now signed a petition against the cuts and thousands of stickers advertising the rally are now stuck on cars.

Former patients are telling of their experiences at the hospital and in particular The Willows.

Nick Teacy, from Tewkesbury, was only 47 when he had a stroke and it was the nurses and staff on The Willows that made life worth living.

"I was a physical and emotional wreck," he said. "But they put me back together and helped me re-integrate with the community."

Gillian Goss, of Pershore said the PCT would not have been aware of the recent systematic review of the outcome for stroke patients treated in special stroke units compared with those treated by domiciliary teams published in the journal of the British Geriatrics Society, Age and Ageing.

She said: "The authors found that patients treated by mobile stroke teams fared significantly worse than those in stroke units. Rates of death, institutionalisation and dependency were all higher."

6 Turn to page 3