A PROTEST petition launched by Milford Hospital League of Friends calling for a full public consultation over plans to close its x-ray unit has gathered more than 800 signatures in less than a week.

League of Friends chairman Jacquie Robini was shocked to learn by chance the Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust intended to close the service, which saw more than 5,000 patients between April 2017 and 2018 over a wide area extending to East Hampshire and West Sussex.

Patients were to be instead referred to a new unit at Cranleigh, but no prior consultation had been carried out with interested parties, including Milford Hospital League of Friends and the many GP surgeries which use the service.

The trust’s proposals would mean patients living near Milford Hospital would have to travel eight miles to either Guildford, Cranleigh or Haslemere.

The outcry triggered when the plan was uncovered prompted an immediate apology from the trust, which has agreed to put the proposal on hold to consult with the League of Friends and other interested parties.

Campaigners claim the closure of the x-ray unit will result in additional expense for the trust and take an ambulance and a nurse out of service at Milford Hospital. Patients will have to travel to Cranleigh by ambulance to be x-rayed and will need to be escorted by a nurse – meaning one less nurse on the ward.

Milford Hospital’s Cedar Ward is also currently home to Chiddingfold Surgery while its premises are rebuilt following the devastating fire on January 7.

Chiddingfold GPs based at Milford will no longer be able to arrange for their patients to be X-rayed on the premises if the Trust goes through with its plan.

Dr Marianne Illsley, medical director of Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The trust sincerely apologises for not engaging with the Milford League of Friends over these proposals.

“We have paused the plans to transfer the x-ray service so we can speak with the League of Friends and others to properly share the clinical reasoning behind the proposals and to hear their views, concerns and agree a way forward.

“Milford Hospital is an important clinical hub as part of Royal Surrey’s five-year strategy and is integral to our plans to transform community care and improve access for patients.

“In the past few months we have begun the process to develop Milford into a multi-disciplinary site including investing in a Care Coordination Centre for the area based at the hospital.

“We see the Milford League of Friends and other partners as being vital to the success of this work and will work closely with them as we ?continue this journey.”

Mrs Robini told the Herald the League of Friends wants a full public consultation and is recommending the Milford unit, which is open three hours daily Monday to Friday, not only stays but is open for longer.

Also, the Cranleigh unit should be in addition to and not at the expense of the “much-valued unit at Milford”.

“The trust says the Milford service is not used very much, but we have the proof it is,” she said. “We don’t have patients from Haslemere – they use their own hospital – but it’s amazing how far people do come. They come from Grayshott and Liphook and we even have some from Guildford because it’s easier to park here.

“I phoned around when I found out what was planned and none of the doctors surgeries knew about it. They were quite shocked.

“We are not against Cranleigh having a x-ray department. It’s on the periphery of the Surrey area, as is Haslemere, whereas Milford is in the centre. We need all three units because they complement each other. We are having a meeting with the Trust tomorrow (Friday) and will be asking for a public consultation.”

* The petition can be found at you.38degrees.org.uk.