I WAS twice admitted to the Margaret Stanhope Centre — for 13 months and for three months — and over these periods I gradually came to the conclusion that it would almost certainly close and houses would be built.
The reason for this was the insidious march of the ‘power of the penny’.
It is an ongoing item when times get tough.
But the potential closure of the Burton site is not logical.
The Shrewsbury, Stafford and Burton sites are roughly in a straight line and roughly an equal distance apart, covering a large area of potential patients.
If the Burton site is closed, it would leave a large area around Stafford and Shrewsbury relatively closely coupled, while an even more extensive section of land covering East Staffordshire and South Derbyshire would leave a greater number of patients, whose relatives will be forced to travel further at added expense and inconvenience.
This is patently unfair.
If a site must be closed for economic reasons, surely it would be more equitable to shut Stafford.
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