It has emerged that the St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust have to find £13m worth of savings, as a result of the Government pledging 'to safeguard' the NHS.

There have been some rumors that alongside Trafford General Hospital could be sold and become a private hospital. This news lead to speculation that St Helens and Whiston Hospitals could also be sold to private companies to save money.

We are not prepared to stand for this. The taxes we pay support the NHS, and was branded the reason why VAT was increased to 20%, in order to keep the pledged made by the Conservatives to ‘Save the NHS, not cut it’.

There are many other ways to save these hospitals from becoming phased out to the private sector, especially when both the hospitals were recently opened after being re-built.

Along with the other unpopular reforms the Government is trying to implement, there are changes that cannot happen.

We, the undersigned is asking our ‘elected’ government to intervene to prevent the St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust from selling our hospitals, which would save the health and wellbeing of St Helens and Knowsley, which has the only main Accident and Emergency department, the next nearest A and E departments being in Warrington and Liverpool.

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