'24-hour Chorley Hospital A&E only acceptable option'

Some of these are classed as not being clinically viable.

The only option that is acceptable to the people of Chorley is a fully staffed 24-hour 365-day option.

Have the people who came up with these options ever visited Chorley A&E or Preston A&E?

I know from personal experience that currently, when Chorley A&E is closed, Preston A&E cannot cope and that is during the summer months.

In July 2018, I was admitted to Preston A&E and spent 18 hours on a trolley in corridors and the A&E department, waiting to be seen and waiting for a bed.

This year, a friend of mine was admitted to Preston A&E and spent over 12 hours waiting for a bed.

This was in July.

The strain on the ambulance service will be increased due to the fact that they will have to prioritise even more who gets an emergency ambulance because of the location of Royal Preston Hospital.

It will only need one incident to cause absolute chaos and jammed traffic on the motorway to put someone’s life in danger.

Unless you have your own transport, you will have to use a taxi or call an ambulance.

In a large number of cases, it will be an ambulance because people will not be able to afford the cost of a taxi.

Then there will be the problem of returning home for the patient and/or the person that went with them if an inpatient stay is not required.

The number of people using Preston A&E will increase.

This will lead to longer waiting times, so putting people’s lives at risk.

I submit, using their own terms, that if Chorley A&E no longer exists, then Preston A&E will become clinically unviable.

Leonard Kelly

Chorley