A CAMPAIGN group against hospital cuts is holding a public rally in Hartlepool next month.

Fighting 4 Hartlepool Hospital is organising the rally to protest against local cuts which it says are being carried out "behind closed doors" by NHS England.

The rally is in response to the news that an urgent care centre is being moved back to Hartlepool to treat residents from the town, East Durham and other outlying areas – but campaigners say it is still not a full accident and emergency department, and anything more serious is dealt with at the University Hospital of North Tees in Stockton.

Glen Hughes, deputy chair of F4HH, said: "Nothing has changed for the people of this town and surrounding area and we still need, and deserve, a fully functioning A&E service.

“Working with other campaign groups up and down the country we can see this is not just a local issue anymore. "This is about restructuring the NHS around us with no public or political mandate and with no evidence to support the transformation that NHS England is imposing. The plan is to centralise emergency care into one hospital, James Cook 30 miles away, and downgrading all other valuable hospitals to mediocre urgent care centres with no resources for good emergency care. People will die.”

The Fighting 4 Hartlepool Hospital rally will be held on 15th October at 12 noon at Victory Square opposite the Civic Centre.

For more information on the campaign, visit the Facebook page Fighting for Hartlepool Hospital or Twitter @fighting4hh.