A SILENT march has been organised for Redditch boy Callum Cartlidge who died in an ambulance after it was diverted to a Worcester hospital.

The march for Callum Cartlidge will take place in Redditch town centre this Saturday, beginning at 11am from Trinity High School at the end of Grove Street.

The eight-year-old suffered a cardiac arrest and died on Friday, March 3 after being taken by ambulance to Worcestershire Royal Hospital, 19 miles away from Redditch. His family lived just three minutes from the town's Alexandra Hospital but instead he was conveyed by ambulance to Worcester which took 23 minutes.

It has been policy to take the most seriously ill children in the county to Worcester since September.

The day before he had been rushed to the Royal after being taken to see his doctor, yet was discharged the same night at 11pm and sent home. An inquiry is currently ongoing.

Central to the event on Saturday will be a heart-shaped mosaic made up of hand prints from the eight-year old’s fellow pupils at Matchborough First School.

The march will run between Trinity High School and St Stephen's Church grounds. The church grounds will play host to attractions, including face painting, music and a bouncy castle.

Event organisers are also asking for people to make their own hearts to hang on railings around the bandstand area.

A template can be found on Save The Alex’s Facebook page.

A spokesperson for organisers, OurNHS Worcestershire, said: “There will be a focus on family health and what is going to be at the Alexandra Hospital.

"It’s a case of letting people know that under the changes the Alex will only have an adult only accident and emergency department with a GP-led urgent care centre for children – if they can find the GP’s to staff it.

“We’ll be asking families if they think that is appropriate given the hospital serves a population of 200,000 with the highest number of young people in the county, and letting people make their own minds up."

Under changes already introduced by Worcestershire Acute Hospital NHS Trust on patient safety grounds, all emergencies are being transferred to Worcestershire Royal Hospital in Worcester.

Children’s in-patient services have also been transferred to Worcester along with maternity and major gynaecology cases.