Thousands of people in the Lutterworth area urged to help shape the future of their town’s hospital

Thousands of people in the Lutterworth area are being urged to help shape and mould the future of their town’s vital cottage hospital by telling health chiefs just what they think.

Campaigners are confident that they are winning their long and bitter fight to save Feilding Palmer Hospital on Gilmorton Road, Lutterworth.

And now they want to find out just how much local people use the 123-year-old hospital – and if they are keen to keep and increase the number of beds it has.

Today Mary Guppy, who has battled for years to save the Feilding Palmer Hospital for local patients, told the Harborough Mail: “We have had a lot of very good meetings recently with the leaders of our local Clinical Commissioning Groups about our hospital’s future.

“The current proposals are now to completely reconstruct the hospital and bring in far more clinicians in various areas.

“So we are naturally feeling much more positive that our town’s fantastic cottage hospital will be here with us for many more years to come,” said Mary, of South Kilworth.

“We have come such a long way when you consider that I was told just six years ago that the hospital would close for good without doubt.

“It’s such a good job that we didn’t just accept that decision as being final.

“But now we are keen and eager to discover just what 20,000 people both in Lutterworth and the surrounding villages feel about our hospital.

“We are carrying out an ambitious new survey which is to be printed in The Country Voice and the Swift Flash, our local magazines.

“We are also very grateful to the Harborough Mail for covering this for us and giving us a big new platform showcasing what we are doing as well,” said Mary.

“I’ve sent this study to friends and family and already had over 70 replies sent back to me.

“The majority of those people are very keen to keep the beds that we have at Feilding Palmer Hospital.

“They are also obviously pleased that it looks as if we have now guaranteed its future.

“People don’t want to be forced to have to travel miles to hospitals in Leicester or Coventry when we’ve got a perfectly good cottage hospital right here in Lutterworth.

The Feilding Palmer Hospital is becoming more important top us by the minute as more and more people move into this part of south Leicestershire.

“So we are appealing to everyone across the Lutterworth area to complete this new survey as soon as you can.

“Let us know what you think.

“What are the areas of biggest concern to you?

“Do you want to keep the beds there, would you like to see even more?

“The survey won’t take you long to do and you can easily fill it in and send it back to us online,” said Mary, who was born at the 10-bed Victorian hospital.

You can complete the survey by visiting this special web link here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/have-your-say