Hospital downgrade will cost lives annually

UP to a dozen lives will be lost each year in one county alone if a general hospital is downgraded and patients are forced to travel up to 80 miles to get to the nearest casualty department, an ambulance worker has warned.

The Hanly Report proposes downgrading 13 smaller hospitals and concentrating accident and emergency services in regional centres.

The government blueprint for the development of the health service also demands greater efficiency, response times and medical expertise from ambulance staff. However, an ambulance man with 30 years experience says lives will be lost en route to major hospitals.