A campaign which defeated Jeremy Hunt on his plans to close their local A&E has heaped praise on #HandsOffHRI.
Vicky Penner, of Save Lewisham Hospital, said the London campaign had been ‘blown away’ by the efforts of the Huddersfield group.
Save Lewisham Hospital overturned the Health Secretary’s decision to downgrade the South East London hospital following a prominent campaign three years ago.
Mr Hunt’s decision, which would have led to 750,000 people sharing one A&E four miles away, was deemed unlawful in the High Court.
At a #HandsOffHRI meeting on Tuesday, Ms Penner said she was hopeful the Huddersfield campaign could win.
She said: “I was blown away by the efforts of #HandsOffHRI.
“We think in Lewisham that you can win this campaign because your campaign is very strong.
“I normally do these things with a list of tips – but I’m not going to do that because you already seem to know what to do.”
Ms Penner said it was important for similar campaigns to work together to prevent the Government dismantling the NHS.
She said: “These people are destroying our health service and they need shaming.”
The meeting also heard from Pete Gillard who is part of a Shropshire campaign which has delayed plans to close one of two A&Es in Shrewsbury and Telford.
