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With less than 24 hours to go before the meeting scheduled weeks ago (for 3pm today, Thursday 25th October) with the Health Minister, John Hutton, to discuss hospital provision in Lichfield and Burntwood, the meeting was cancelled by the Minister who "has to go to Brussels". "I cannot believe that the Minister did not know before 5pm yesterday - when we first heard from him - that he had decided to cancel the meeting and go swanning off to Brussels instead", says Michael Fabricant. "My office in Westminster had the task of phoning at incredibly short notice the 11 delegates from Staffordshire - Labour and Conservative councillors and charity workers - to tell them not to come down to London. The arrogance and incompetence of Government health ministers has now reached startling proportions. It is imperative that we fix a another date soon for the meeting before the South Staffordshire Health Authority plans are implemented. These are plans to reduce hospital services in Lichfield and Burntwood and which, according to the Health Authority's own report, is opposed by the majority of local people".