UNCERTAINTY has been cast over the future of Kendal's mental health ward.

It was announced yesterday that the Kentmere Ward at the town's Westmorland General Hospital (WGH) will now be closing on a 'temporary' basis rather than 'permanently'.

Dr Andrew Brittlebank, medical director of Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, also told the Gazette that there was a 'possibility' that inpatient facilities would remain at the hospital.

The Trust, which runs the ward, admitted that there had been mistakes with last week's announcement.

"We recognise that we have not got our messages right on this occasion," said Claire Molloy, chief executive of the Trust. "We can therefore confirm that although the Kentmere unit will close and alternatives will be introduced, that this change is temporary and we are reviewing the timescales we set out last week along with our partners."

The Trust has said that the decision was made 'following discussions with partner organisations' and admitted it did not have the necessary powers to permanently close the ward.

Ms Molloy, who promised in 2014 that the Trust would be more 'open and transparent', has apologised for the anxiety that last week's news may have caused.

"We now look forward to working with partners in consulting the public on long term plans for the county's inpatient mental health beds," she said.

Part of the long term plan will be a countywide consultation regarding mental health service provision, which will likely run for three months from September.

A spokesperson for the Cumbria Clinical Commissioning Group said that until the countywide consultation on mental health provision had taken place, it would not be able to comment on the future of Cumbria's mental health services.

The spokesperson said: "We understand the reasons why Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust believes the closure to be necessary to protect the welfare of patients. However, NHS Cumbria CCG does not support any permanent service change without public consultation.

"We are working with partner organisations to agree how we take things forward and the best way of providing adult inpatient services right across Cumbria."

Over the past week there has been growing public support for Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron's petition to save Kentmere from closure.

The petition has amassed more than 3,000 signatures and Mr Farron has been encouraged by the support.

"The scale of the response by the public shows how strongly local people feel about this," he said. "Once again, mental health provision is being treated as the poor relation of physical health, yet the reality is that the services provided at the Kentmere Ward are critically important."