A PETITION calling for Launceston Hospital to become one of the proposed new ‘urgent care centres’ has secured over 1,000 signatures online.

The petition asks people to sign to show their support for ‘placing one of the urgent care centres in Launceston and keep Launceston Hospital open with extended and improved services’, and was set up by Joan Heaton, who lives in Launceston.

The Post has previously reported that the chief executive officer of Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust assured local people that there are no threats to Launceston Hospital.

At the June meeting of Launceston Town Council, Mr Confue suggested the hospital could develop to offer more services, and that the Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) ‘Shaping Our Future’ document is looking at establishing a number of ‘urgent care centres’, which would offer a mix of services, and take pressure away from A&E departments.

He suggested local people could ‘lobby that Launceston makes sense’ as a base in East Cornwall for an urgent care centre.

Mrs Heaton has spent a great deal of time in Launceston and Derriford hospitals as her husband suffers from numerous chronic health problems.

She said: “I drive him to all his appointments and the trips to Derriford can be long and tiring for us both. We are not alone. There are many families like ours. Without emergency care in Launceston, our quality of life would be severely diminished. We need our urgent care centre in Launceston. We need a fully functioning community hospital. We need our NHS.”

Mrs Heaton hopes to deliver the petition to the chief executive of Cornwall Council, Kate Kennally.