THE last chance to speak up for Grace Ward in Thornbury Hospital is next Tuesday, March 1 from 7pm-9pm in the Armstrong Hall in Thornbury.

This meeting has been arranged but not well advertised by the Mental Health Trust to discuss the proposed closure of Grace Ward. Their decision is expected soon afterwards. So far no plans to reuse the beds in Grace Ward have been proposed.

As for Henderson Ward, this was reduced a few months ago from 24 beds to 20 on the false assurance that these four beds were not needed. This month Thornbury Town Council were at last given the figures on how many people had been refused admission to Henderson Ward every single week between last September and this January.

Five patients on average were refused admission every week. Some weeks it was eight or nine patients. In only one week was nobody refused admission. Every one of these requests came from GPs or the acute hospitals. There is good reason to suppose that if doctors had thought they would succeed they would have made even more requests.

So four beds have been closed, but five patients per week are being refused admission, and probably more are not even being given the chance of a bed.

If, as now seems very likely, Grace Ward closes and is not reused, and Henderson Ward does not retain its 24 beds, Thornbury will then have a 20 bed cottage hospital. What is the chance of that being retained for much longer?

Present and future local residents rely on us to fight to expand Thornbury Hospital and not let it suffer "death by a thousand cuts".

Please come to the meeting next week and, whatever the outcome, keep fighting for Henderson Ward.

Clare Fardell Councillor for Thornbury North