CAMPAIGNERS have threatened to bring the streets of West Cornwall to a standstill in a repeat of protests in defence of their hospital service, writes the WMN's Lyn Barton.

The threat to bring tens of thousands of people out in protest was made as politicians hold a crucial summit today to discuss the future of West Cornwall Hospital.

Campaigners who have fought to safeguard services at the hospital say they simply cannot trust the county's health bosses who have reneged on promises over provision.

This evening, local MP Andrew George presides at what is certain to be a heated debate when health chiefs will come face to face with local people.

Graham Webster, of campaign group West Cornwall Healthwatch, said people felt let down and angry. He said they were ready to fight with mass demonstrations as they had in 2006 when 27,000 people joined a march through Hayle.

"Promises have been broken with regards to West Cornwall Hospital. That is why the west of the county will not let these people off the hook.

"And if they do not listen, I can see thousands of people taking the streets again."

Temperatures were raised after the Royal Cornwall Hospital Trust, which runs West Cornwall Hospital in Penzance, unveiled its sweeping strategic review earlier this month. The trust, whose main acute hospital at Truro, outlined a number of enhancements to the service at Penzance and nearby St Michael's Hospital at Hayle.

But it confirmed fears that the accident and emergency unit at West Cornwall would be led by an experienced nurse practitioner for 10 hours overnight.

This was despite guarantees made in January 2007, which were reiterated in April this year, that the unit would be doctor-led 24 hours a day.

Mr Webster said the strategic review was a "dog's dinner".

"The issue for people in the west of the county is about trust and confidence and at this moment in time people here have neither in RCHT."

Mr George, who has been a passionate campaigner about healthcare, said there had been a steady reduction in services.

Since 2007, West Cornwall Hospitals's high dependency unit had closed, there had been a reduction in emergency cases brought to its doorstep by ambulance and emergency surgery had ended., he said.

He added that the meeting tonight was a chance for local people to show RCHT that they cared about health provision.

"They've used the cloak of financial crisis and the revolving door of new executives to create an atmosphere of crisis and uncertainty to remove vital services from our hospital.

"Now is the time for them to build them back up again.

"The community must come to demonstrate its support for our hospital. After so much uncertainty, we need some guarantees. Patients should be seen closer to home.

"Services must be built back. We deserve a long-term plan for a hospital fit to serve the local population as it increases by another 40,000 in the next 20 years."

Speakers at the event, which starts at 7.30pm in St John's Hall in Penzance, include RCHT chief executive Peter Colclough and chairman Martin Watts, Alice Hosking, general manager of West Cornwall Hospital, and Ann James, chief executive, Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Primary Care Trust.

A spokesman for RCHT said that the casualty unit at West Cornwall Hospital was managed as part of the trust's emergency department.

She said the numbers of people attending the unit was low, averaging around six people at night who mainly walked in with minor ailments.

"As has been the arrangement for several years, there will continue to be an experienced doctor within the unit between the hours of 9am and 11pm.

"Outside these hours, the first point of contact is a skilled nurse practitioner supported by telephone advice from the specialist doctors at the emergency department at the Royal Cornwall Hospital and a 24/7 on-site resuscitation team at West Cornwall Hospital."