Vests hung in protest (From Darlington and Stockton Times)
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Vests hung in protest
12:58pm Thursday 30th August 2012 in News
VESTED INTEREST: Baby vests are hung along Northallerton Town Hall as part of the Hands Off Our Hospital protest
A POIGNANT line of babies’ vests blowing in the wind is the latest move in a campaign to preserve maternity and children’s services at a North Yorkshire hospital.
The names of Maddison Jessica Day, born eight weeks prematurely in 2009, Oliver Gilpin, born in November 2010, and Thomas Bell, born 26 weeks prematurely – all babies who have been helped by the Friarage Hospital, in Northallerton – feature on the vests, which have been strung up outside Northallerton Town Hall, alongside the Hands Off Our Hospital banner.
Thousands of people have signed petitions and taken to the streets to protest at potential moves by the NHS to downgrade the Friarage from a consultant-led to a midwife-led unit.
The campaign group Save Northallerton Friarage Hospital’s Children’s and Maternity Units is calling on people to carry on the battle up to a meeting on September 17 when recommendations for the future will be revealed.
The meeting, which is open to the public, will be held at Hambleton Forum, in Northallerton, from 10am to noon.
