The 2018 local elections could prove to be one of the most important ever for OUR NHS.

The Councillors of Southend Borough Council have considerable power to influence the Sustainability & Transformation Partnership's plan to drastically reorganise health care in Mid & South Essex, they can even refer the plan back to the Secretary of State for Health & Social Care, Jeremy Hunt MP, if they are not satisfied with aspects of it.

Save Southend NHS volunteers have been campaigning tirelessly to raise public awareness about the STP plans. Last year, with huge public backing, we forced the STP to withdraw their plans to downgrade Southend's A&E department.

Many hospital services and GP services are still threatened with Southend Hospital in line to lose its status as a General Hospital, meaning patients travelling to Basildon or Broomfield for many procedures.

GP practices are being forced together into impersonal 'super hubs' due to a chronic shortage of GPs, where patients will often be dealt with by nurses and pharmacists instead of their GP.

We still don't believe the vast majority of people in and around Southend are aware of what is happening to our NHS.

We want to put a leaflet through EVERY letterbox in Southend Borough, and beyond, in the run-up to the local elections on May 3rd, in order to make the STP and NHS the number one issue and ensure our elected representatives do their jobs properly and represent the electors who put them there!

Promoted by Mike Fieldhouse on behalf of Save Southend NHS, both at 59 Station Rd, SS0 7RQ.