As I watch the construction work for the new hospital in Altrincham, I am reminded of a Commons debate that I secured on the future of Altrincham Hospital back on 30th November 2005:‘I am grateful for the opportunity to raise the plight of Altrincham General Hospital. I am sorry that it is the second occasion on which proposed closure of this well-used and much-loved hospital has prompted me to seek such a debate. I believe that the Adjournment debate that I secured on the subject in July 1999 was instrumental in saving the hospital. I hope very much that the same will prove true today.’
Time passes so quickly, I can’t quite believe that the second of my Commons debates on the future of Altrincham’s hospital took place eight years ago! As you know, our hospital has had a bumpy ride; it was repeatedly threatened with closure for the past thirty years – but every time it was threatened, it was saved by the strength of local feeling, led by councillors and community campaigners such as the late, redoubtable, Pat Morris, who on one occasion even funded her own judicial review. Eventually things came full circle and it was acknowledged that a community-based facility was desirable. By continuing to raise the issue in Parliament the aim was to extract a commitment from managers to keep a hospital in Altrincham and then hold them to their promises. The priority has been to retain a hospital which is easily accessible for local people. At the moment the hospital and its clinics are better used than ever and the promised new facility is still a rather large hole in the ground. It feels like we’ve been hammering away at this forever, but when, in 2015, we finally have our brand new hospital up and running, it will have been worth it.