I WAS sad to read in last week’s issue about the reported cuts to hospital services at Braintree Community Hospital, namely the Rapid Assessment Unit.

I was concerned as to why the general public were not consulted about this closure.

I attended the public meeting regarding the recent proposed cuts to services including vasectomies, hearing aid provision and physiotherapy services.

However, this cut has not been well publicised. Why are the general public consulted on some closures but not others?

It is of personal sadness to me as I believe it is, or was, a very good service. My mother received an excellent service from the Rapid Assessment Unit.

She was referred there following a fall and was struggling at home due to the shock of the fall and being badly bruised. She was seen the same day by an attentive nurse.

She had an array of tests including a blood test, heart tracing and X-ray to rule out a broken bone.

She was seen by a therapist as well as an extremely kind doctor. As a team they decided to admit her to the ward at Braintree where she had two weeks to recuperate. She returned home and is now fully recovered and back to her normal self.

I believe this helped to prevent a much-feared visit to A&E.

My mother has had awful experiences of Broomfield A&E and refuses to go back there unless absolutely necessary. In my head, if this service is cut this must mean more frail elderly people will clog up the A&E waiting rooms and put extra pressure on our already-strained GP surgeries. I can’t get a GP appointment for love nor money.

Your article says that Dr McGeachy wants care closer to home.

I fail to see how such well-coordinated care can be delivered at home. How can people get all these tests completed in one day without a unit such as this? Please pass my thoughts to Dr McGeachy.

I think more effort should be put into building up services like this in our local hospitals, and getting them promoted. None of my friends knew there was a service like this - they feel that this type of service could have prevented A&E visits for their elderly parents too.

I understand that savings need to be made but in this instance I feel this is actually a costly mistake.

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