Our Blog
REACH insight into the “Fit for the Future” Citizens’ Jury
Two representatives from REACH presented to the "Fit for the Future" Citizens' Jury on Friday 22 January. One of our team has shared his insight and perspective on the experience and process here. The Citizens’ Jury met from 19 to 22 January and will meet again from...
REACH Chairman’s New Year’s Message
May I take this opportunity of wishing everyone a happy, safe and successful New Year, acknowledging the challenges we all continue to face. Hopefully the Covid 19 virus and its mutations will shortly become something of the past as the vaccination programme rapidly...
Two week Pit Stop trial ended after two days
The Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust yesterday (Thursday 03 September) scrapped the two week "Pit Stop" trial they only introduced two days previously. The trial had been intended to help turn ambulances round more quickly whereas it reportedly "made...
So it turns out that “Pit Stops” are not just for racing cars ….
REACH has always argued Gloucestershire Royal Hospital does not have the capacity to handle all the emergency cases from across the whole county. There is insufficient space to accommodate all the ambulances in peak periods. The waiting room in A&E is not big...
‘Urgent vs emergency hospital care in Gloucestershire’ – A Senior Doctor’s view
Within the proposals, set out by the local Gloucestershire NHS Foundation Trust, to downgrade Cheltenham General’s Full “Type 1” A&E department to a “Type 3” Urgent Treatment Centre (UTC)*, the local NHS suggests that the individual patients will be personally...
The challenges in planning and running an Accident and Emergency service
Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (GHNHSFT) has the busiest Accident and Emergency (A&E) service in the whole of the South West of England. In a single month (July 2019) GHNHSFT treated 14,066 patients at the two major A&E departments at...

“To have a fully functioning, fully staffed A&E Department operating 24/7 re-instated at Cheltenham General Hospital, which serves a population of at least 200,000 in Cheltenham, Tewkesbury Borough, and the North Cotswolds, at the earliest possible opportunity.”
01242 544599
info@REACHnow.org.uk
REACH, c/o Cheltenham Chamber of Commerce,
2 Trafalgar Street,
Cheltenham,
GL50 1UH