Yet plans to build a new hospital for Basingstoke have become a political battleground, with parties blaming each other for it not yet being built.
Now is the time to put political views aside and unite to ensure a new hospital is built for Basingstoke.
SIGN PETITION: Demand Health Secretary fulfils promise of a new hospital for Basingstoke
The team behind plans to build a new hospital for the town has already laid bare the difficulties our local NHS is facing working in old and crumbling buildings, including operations cancelled at short notice, increasing waiting lists, national standards not being met, and an impact on the quality of care for patients. Hardworking hospital staff and patients deserve better.
More than five years ago, Basingstoke residents were promised a new hospital. It is long overdue and now it is time for our new government to make a firm commitment to honour those promises to our town and build our hospital.
READ MORE: Gazette launches petition to government to build new Basingstoke hospital urgently
As the town’s local paper, the team at the Basingstoke Gazette is championing this important matter by taking action on an issue we know people who live here feel very strongly about.
By coming together to fight for a new hospital, we can put pressure on the government to prioritise a new hospital for Basingstoke. The Labour government has admitted that the New Hospital Programme (NHP) it inherited from the Conservative government is ‘unrealistic and unaffordable’, with funding due to run out in March this year.
There is a real risk that some hospitals in the NHP may never be built, or see projects scaled back. Let’s not let Basingstoke become one of them. By launching a petition we’re giving the people of Basingstoke the chance to have their collective voice heard loud and clear by the government to prioritise a new hospital for Basingstoke.
Hampshire Together, the team behind plans for a new hospital for Basingstoke, has already put in the groundwork needed to get our new hospital built, including running a costly and lengthy consultation with residents. Money spent on this will be wasted if the project never comes to fruition, along with the millions of pounds spent on building maintenance every year.
We need Basingstoke residents to back our petition calling on the government to prioritise and commit to building a new hospital for our town. Whatever your political views, or whoever you blame for the hospital not being built, now is the time to unite.
Our petition will ensure that your voice is heard, so the government is clear that the people of Basingstoke will not back down until our new hospital is built.
Sign the petition here https://www.change.org/p/demand-health-secretary-fulfils-promise-of-a-new-hospital-in-basingstoke