TODAY is a day for celebration for parents across Southport - and we would like to thank all those responsible.
Urgent care for children will return to our town after an absence of nearly six years, and we are delighted that the huge weight of public opinion has prevailed.
Back in 2002, the Southport Visiter launched a campaign against the removal of children's A&E services from our town.
We were astounded by the sheer scale of the response.
More than 26,000 people signed our petitions against the closure. Thousands took part in a march to the hospital. Politicians of all sides put aside their differences to unite in a common cause.
We were inundated with readers protesting to us by phone, via e-mail, calling into our office, sending in letters.
Soon the stories started to come in about parents furious at having to drive past the multi-million pound facility on Town Lane with their sick or injured children in the back of their cars, heading towards Ormskirk on what is often a very congested road. Sometimes, they were then turned away from Ormskirk, pointed in the direction of Alder Hey instead.
The story in this week's Visiter about Georgina Aindow, 4, turned away from Ormskirk Hospital with a broken arm is a case in point.
What should be a basic human right - for a parent to see their child assessed and treated at the nearest hospital and as quickly as possible when they're screaming in pain - on this occasion became an even more traumatic experience.
Many people have worked tirelessly behind the scenes to bring about this good news. They deserve a huge pat on the back, as does Sefton Primary Care Trust chief executive Leigh Griffin and his team who will now put the plans into place. The town's leading local newspaper will of course keep readers up to date with exactly what services the unit will provide, how it will work and when it will open.
This news is just the tonic that parents across Southport needed.
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