A PENSIONER from a village near Selby is urging Health Secretary Frank Dobson to safeguard services at the hospital which saved his life after a heart attack.

Former colliery finance worker Fred Mosby, 79, of Stuart Grove, Eggborough, has written to the Cabinet minister to protest against a threat to close the accident and emergency department at Pontefract General Hospital.

The trust responsible for the hospital was merged with the one which runs Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield last April, despite massive local opposition.

Mr Mosby said: "It would now appear that Wakefield Health Authority is bent on closing the Pontefract accident and emergency department as a forerunner to any other mergers and closures.

"Pinderfields Hospital, which is famous for its burns unit, is a Victorian-type building some 10 miles beyond Pontefract and some 18 miles from my village. Pontefract General Infirmary is, for the most part, modern and built post-war."

He said the self-contained accident and emergency unit was custom-built about eight years ago and "renders excellent service".

"Last year, I myself suffered a coronary attack," he said.

"But, thanks to the promptness of the ambulance service, and the skill and experience of the medical staff at the PGI, I made a most excellent recovery.

"There is no doubt that if I had been transported to Wakefield, passing through four townships including Pontefract on the way, I would not have survived the 18-mile journey."

He said time was of the essence in emergencies, and referred to the so-called Golden Hour - the critical time in which to begin treating a casualty.

Mr Mosby concluded his letter to the Health Secretary: "I would appeal to your judgement to prevent, what appears to me, to be a criminal act of closure for the sake of closure.

"The Pontefract General Infirmary is our local hospital and we in the community wish to ensure its full range of services continue."

Mr Mosby told the Evening Press he had not had any heart trouble before suffering his heart attack last Easter, and was now back to full health.

*York Community Health Council will hold a public meeting in Eggborough Village Hall at 7pm next Wednesday to discuss Wakefield Health Authority's proposals to close or reduce the hours of operation of one of its accident and emergency units.

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