HOW could they, after all the time and effort put into successfully saving our Chorley and South Ribble District Hospital from the claws of Preston, begin to dismantle all that we have achieved?

I might say here that I had, of absolute necessity, to visit Preston Hospital recently and found it looking like a dinosaur compared to Chorley, with it's positively filthy leaking roof and tatty buildings it was just downright uninviting.

The Chorley Hospital Crusade worked tirelessly to save Chorley Hospital. People like Jo Smeeton, Albert Wright, Irene Findly who worked 24-hours a day, and many others that went on that unforgettable march in the seventies for the sake of their children and their children's children. Why should health bosses now encourage Preston to drag us straight back to square one?

So come on people of Chorley and South Ribble, don't let them beat us now. Fight for your right to have a decent hospital with a 24-hour A&E service and acceptable access to treatment for patients in all the 22 districts of Chorley and all those of South Ribble. We have no wish to travel all the way to Preston again.

Remember, the hospital services you and your children enjoy now wouldn't be there if your mothers and fathers hadn't fought for them in the past, likewise your children and their children won't have them if you don't fight for them now.

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