Petition to fund second general hospital with A&E department in Cornwall
Over 11,000 people have signed the petition, calling for the government to 'level up' the Duchy
Last updated 18th Aug 2021
A petition has been launched to fund a second general hospital in Cornwall... including an A&E.
More than 11,000 people have signed it, calling for the government to 'level up' the Duchy.
Christopher Collingwood Wills created the petition, saying the Duchy is struggling to cope with the "ever-increasing demand" from the growth of sectors like tourism.
The petition page states: "We want the Government to "level up" Cornwall, by building a second hospital to cope with the ever-increasing demand resulting from the creation of new housing and the growth of tourism.
"Rapid and significant population growth in Cornwall has overwhelmed the existing public service infrastructure including the NHS.
"The Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro is in a constant state of crisis.
"Demand for services, beds and particularly A&E far exceeds capacity".
On Tuesday (17th August), Treliske issued an urgent appeal for patients not to go to casualty unless it is an emergency, saying the ED is extremely busy.
So busy, in fact, that the hospital's medical director likened it to 'New Year every day'.
The Royal Cornwall Hospitals' Trust remains on alert level Opel 4, which was formerly known as black alert.
RCHT Medical Director, Dr Allister Grant said: “We need to be able to concentrate on people with serious and life-threatening illness and injury.
"It’s like New Year every day. We’re the busiest we have ever been and people with emergencies like heart attacks, stroke and serious trauma are the ones who need the specialist care of an emergency department.
“Unfortunately, we’re still seeing a significant number of people turning up with less urgent conditions and in some cases they’re telling us they have been sent by their GP or the 111 service, when we can see from our records they haven’t made contact with them first.
"We really need people to make that call before they set out. They will be able to speak to an experienced clinician or GP if they need one, and importantly, they’ll be directed to the most appropriate place for their care.
“You can call your own GP even if you are here on holiday and a pharmacist can give advice on minor ailments such as coughs and colds, sore throats, conjunctivitis, and nappy rash. Please help us, help you and keep the emergency department for real emergencies".
NHS Kernow's Choose Well website has up-to-date information on where else to go for care if it is not an emergency.