There’s a public meeting next Friday in Sussex Coast College for local people to say why they wants the Station Plaza NHS walk-in centre to stay open.

The meeting is to be chaired by local MP Amber Rudd and in attendance will be Amanda Philpott, the Chief Officer for the NHS Hastings and Rother Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) – it’s this group that will make the final decision on the future of the walk-in centre.

The meeting will start at 5pm, is free to attend and everyone is welcome.

Hastings and Rother Clinical Commissioning Group announced plans in the spring to move the NHS Walk-In Centre to the Conquest Hospital. Currently based at the Station Plaza, the Walk-In Centre is important to the town due to its central location and accessibility and there has already been a big local backlash against the closure plans with two petitions running on having amassed just short of 3,000 signatures.

Ms Rudd has voiced her concern that taking the Centre away from the town centre and moving it to the northern edge of town will make it less accessible for some of the people who needs its services most she said this week: “Our Walk-In Centre at Station Plaza is an excellent resource for our town. I hope the public meeting will ensure that our town has its voice heard by the CCG and I hope that our local residents will come out to voice their support for the Centre and join me at this meeting.”

Peter Chowney, leader of Hastings Council and Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Hastings & Rye said today: “I shall be going to this meeting – and will urge others to do so too – to oppose the closure of the Station Plaza Walk-In Centre.  However, it does seem a little strange that our MP is opposing the closure, when it’s her Conservative government that has forced the CCG to consider this by demanding £18m savings in their budget.

“While it’s important to fight this closure, the CCG will presumably just have to consider another cut elsewhere, unless the government funds our local healthcare services properly.”

To find out more and to register your interest, please go to https://www.amberrudd.co.uk/save-our-walk-centre-0

To sign one of the petitions follow these links

• To sign Erica Smith’s petition follow this link
• https://www.change.org/p/hastings-and-rother-clinical-commissioning-group-keep-hastings-station-plaza-walk-in-health-centre?recruiter=2627190&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=share_for_starters_page

• To sign Amber Rudd’s petition please follow this link
• https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/save-hastings-walk-in-centre/?i=0#.W4AKgiB_dbs.facebook