More than 50,000 passionate residents have signed a petition in the fight to save Burton’s accident and emergency unit from the threat of being downgraded. People from across Burton and South Derbyshire have shown an overwhelming vote of confidence in the department, as they have joined forces to add their voices to the petition which has been drawn up to prevent the unit at Burton’s Queen’s Hospital from becoming an urgent care centre.
MP’s including Andrew Bridgen and Heather Wheeler have also thrown their weight behind the campaign, which voices outrage about plans outlined in the county’s Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) to turn an emergency unit in either Burton, Stoke or Stafford into an urgent care unit.
Burton MP Andrew Griffiths drew up the petition and said he has been left “staggered” by the “truly phenomenal” response, which has seen more than half of the town’s population get behind the fight.