ALMOST 100 protesters braved the cold and rain in Parliament Square to vent their feelings over possible hospital closures. Save the Royal Surrey campaigners, along with South West Surrey MP Jeremy Hunt, gathered outside the Houses of Parliament on Tuesday night to hold a 12-hour vigil over proposals to close the Guildford-based hospital. David Cameron and Sir Menzies Campbell also joined a host of other senior politicians in Parliament Square overnight to support the campaign's candlelit vigil. The vigil coincided with the publication on Wednesday of a high-profile report by the Health Select Committee looking at NHS deficits. The report warns against imposing cuts to services to address short-term financial deficits while ignoring the longer- term damage that could be caused to the NHS. Commenting on the vigil, campaign chairman Professor Chris Marks said: "I'd like to thank all those who attended, and made it such a success. We have succeeded in taking our message to the heart of British politics, and the support we received from Mr Cameron, Sir Menzies and many others reflects the growing momentum behind our campaign. "The health select committee report demonstrates that vital hospital services are being threatened by short-term financial considerations. We know this to be true from the Royal Surrey's experience. There is no sound clinical or financial basis for closing the hospital." He believes that plans, which are set to be introduced in the new year, to reduce the cash hospitals get for day surgery could be disastrous. Many procedures performed under general anaesthetic, including hernia operations, will soon be funded at the same, lower level paid for outpatient appointments. Prof Marks feels that, as the same quality of surgery will be expected but at a lower rate, this will result in a squeeze on resources and a drop in patient care. He added: "This is yet another pressure on the hospital budget. There comes a time when you cannot cut income any more without reducing the quality of services for patients. "It is also worth saying that most of these cuts do not apply to foundation hospitals. If the Royal Surrey was a foundation trust we believe it would be between £30 million and £40 million better off, completely transforming the financial position. "We call on the government to protect the high-quality services at the Royal Surrey County Hospital for local residents." Meanwhile, South West Surrey MP Jeremy Hunt has blamed the funding crisis on the government's "boom or bust" attitude. Speaking in a House of Commons debate called by the Conservative party, Mr Hunt said: "As a result of problems in the funding formula, we are facing the potential closure of the Royal Surrey County Hospital. "Not only that, but we had to wait twice as long as people in Manchester for ear, nose and throat elective surgery and three times as long for trauma and orthopaedic work as people living in the Prime Minister's Sedgefield constituency." He then attacked the fact that the funding of local healthcare fluctuates, with the former Guildford and Waverley PCT getting a £9 million budget hike last year, before being told to slash costs by £16 million this year. He added: "There is a phrase for this type of approach - boom and bust. If we are to see a real improvement in public health it requires sustained investment over a period of time, not boom and bust. "The future of our hospitals depends on secure funding, not the wildly fluctuating levels that we have seen over the past few years." • The Surrey Petition reached a significant milestone this week in its crusade to depict popular opinion against the proposed closure of Surrey hospitals. With the Royal Surrey and St Peter's Hospitals under threat, 40,367 people have completed a petition since its inception two months ago. Former paramedic Ken Callanan, who pioneered the petition, looked forward to more signatories in 2007. "The Surrey Petition will run well into the new year as the awaited proposals from the strategic health authority seems to be taking longer than anticipated to be announced. "Whatever happens, your 'people's petition' will run its full course to ensure there is time for everyone in Surrey to be made aware of it, which hopefully will result in a true reflection of public opposition from the whole county."
