Government to respond to petition asking for second general hospital with A&E department in Cornwall

If it reaches 100,000 signatures it will be considered for debate in Parliament

Royal Cornwall Hospital - Treliske

The Government will have to respond to a petition asking for a second general hospital with an emergency department to be funded for Cornwall.

The petition was launched as the whole of Cornwall's health and care system is experiencing an ongoing extreme surge in demand.

The Royal Cornwall Hospital's emergency department alone is currently being compared to a "disaster movie" and its medical director said it's so busy "it's like New Year every day". You can read about this here.

At the time of writing, the petition had reached 12,021 signatures. The Government responds to all petitions on the Parliament's petition website that get more than 10,000 signatures.

If it gets 100,000 signatures, it will be considered for debate in Parliament.

The petition reads: "We want the Government to "level up" Cornwall, by building a second hospital to cope with the ever-increasing demand resulting from the creation of new housing and the growth of tourism.

"Rapid and significant population growth in Cornwall has overwhelmed the existing public service infrastructure including the NHS. The Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro is in a constant state of crisis. Demand for services, beds and particularly A&E far exceeds capacity.

You can access the petition here.

The A&E at Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro is currently the busiest it has ever been.

Health bosses are pleading for people who don't need them to call their own GP or 111, as staff struggle to treat people in genuine emergency conditions.