HUNDREDS more people have signed our petition to keep specialised cancer services in Colchester.

The Gazette’s Save Our Cancer Surgery campaign was launched following news that Essex’s urology cancer surgery could be sited in either Colchester or Southend.

          Click here to sign the petition

The National Institute for Clinical Excellence says cancer surgery centres should serve a population of at least one million people – and that means there should only be one in Essex.

Residents in north Essex are calling on NHS England to place the surgery centre at Colchester General Hospital where hundreds of thousands of pounds of investment has already been made in new specialist equipment.

Colchester councillor Lyn Barton is one of many campaigners who has been out collecting signatures for the Gazette campaign.

Along with her team, she has collected 500 more names at four separate signings in Iceni Square, in Shrub End, outside Kingsford School, at Essex County Hospital and at the Firstsite launch party.

She said: “The response has been amazing.

“I spoke to many former hospital employees at Essex County Hospital and, without exception, they supported the unit remaining in Colchester.

“We have invested in this centre.

“It has served many in our community and we have a high level of expertise.

Why not build on that and establish an Essex Centre of Excellence in Colchester?”

  • TO share your views or add your story to our campaign, write to us at Cancer Surgery Campaign, the Gazette, Unit 1 Brunel Court, Brunel Way, Severalls Industrial Estate, Colchester, CO4 9XP or email gazette.newsdesk@nqe.com