AS fears mount that the axe could fall on Haslemere Community Hospital's beds, residents were expected to turn out in force yesterday (Thursday) to a special consultation meeting.

Worried residents, and even schoolchildren, were set to arrive at the meeting in their pyjamas and dressing gowns to add weight to their campaign to save the hospital for the second time in five years.

The Guildford and Waverley Primary Care Trust (PCT), had called the meeting to give people the chance to have their say on its proposals to save millions of pounds as part of the "Modernising Your Local Healthcare" consultation.

But as The Herald went to press, campaigners were determined to do as much as they could to raise public awareness of the plight of the community hospital. Even school children were set to be involved in the latest phase of the campaign. At Woolmer Hill School, where hundreds of children are expected to sign a petition, a spokesman said:

"The petition is supported by Woolmer Hill School pupils who are taking an active role in signing the petition."

And at the Royal School and St Bartholomew's Primary School, children were permitted to wear their pyjamas to school for the day and some were also expected to be allowed to attend the meeting. Other schools adding their support were Wispers and St Ives.

"We want to reinforce the message that the people of Haslemere want a hospital with beds, not just an outpatients unit," declared Dr Nicky Lee, the chairman of the Friends of Haslemere Hospital.

The Herald has been inundated with letters of support for the hospital beds for several weeks and this week, Chris Taylor, a GP at the town's health centre for 25 years, has also written in support of retaining the beds.

"I have seen several threats before but I am afraid this appears to be the most serious," wrote Dr Taylor.

"I have seen over the years the gradual erosion of the services provided; the maternity unit in 1983, cessation of surgery in 1987 and the threat to the beds only recently. Once these cuts are made there is no going back," he warned.

Dr Taylor strongly urged everyone to attend all the meetings being held locally and fill in the form in the back of "Modernising Your Local Healthcare", which is available from the Haslemere Hospital and Health Centre.

Another letter to The Herald this week came from Haslemere Stroke Club whose chairman, Julia Scholfield, spoke of the problems suffered by stroke victims if they are farmed out to hospitals in Guildford and Farnham because of difficulties in seeing their loved ones.

"With inadequate public transport and prohibitively expensive parking, family and friends cannot visit and patients become depressed," said Mrs Scholfield.

The public consultation considers the future of services provided at Haslemere Hospital and hospitals at Milford, Cranleigh, Farnham, plus proposed service developments at Godalming. The consultation runs until February 28, with a further meeting in the coffee lounge in St Saviour's Church, Woodbridge Road, Guildford, on Tuesday, January 24, at 10-30 am.

A further meeting called by The Haslemere Society, to which the PCT has been invited, takes place in the church hall of Our Lady of Lourdes Roman Catholic Church on the corner of Weydown and Derby Roads, on February 7, at 7-30 pm.

The meeting has been called to allow people unable to get to the 2 pm meeting yesterday (Thursday) to put their views.

• The Herald has learned that Grayshott Health Clinic in School Road, is also under imminent threat of closure. Its health visitors are moving their base from the clinic to Haslemere Hospital at the end of this month.

In a statement on Wednesday, the PCT said: "In a concerted effort to realise savings and make the best use of limited financial resources, the Guildford and Waverley PCT is investigating options for the use of the clinic. The clinic is under-utilised at present and this clearly does not make economic sense when the PCT is tackling a financial deficit.

The running costs of the clinic are approximately £38,000 per year.

"Following a recent risk assessment of Grayshott Health Clinic, it was concluded that there was a health-and-safety risk as the building did not meet disability access requirements and there were also issues of security for staff working in the building."