Call to halt hospital reviews

3:34pm Friday 8th February 2008

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MP Tim Farron yesterday called for a halt to the review of services at Kendal's Westmorland General Hospital.

The Westmorland and Lonsdale MP submitted an early day motion, despite NHS health chiefs insisting the cuts were best for patients.

The motion strongly advised that plans for the closure of acute admission services at WGH be put on hold until all opinions had been taken into account and other possible actions considered which maintain or improve the current level of care available.

His move came after health chiefs attempted to pour oil over troubled waters as they fended off a series of tough questions about closures at WGH.

Following fierce criticism from campaigners and months of media coverage, those behind the sweeping changes held a special "press briefing" on Wednesday, and moved to allay fears that patients' lives were being put at risk.

At the briefing, The Westmorland Gazette quizzed hospital and ambulance bosses about the repeated claims of campaigners and some staff that the infrastructure to support ward closures, and the transit of emergency patients to Royal Lancaster Infirmary for treatment, is not in place.

During March, Ward 11 at WGH will close bed by bed, followed by the closure of further acute medical wards and, if the process runs smoothly, the coronary care unit at the end of April. The plan is that patients who would have been cared for in Kendal, will then be sent instead to RLI on upgraded ambulances. And increased care in the community should mean patients returned to their homes quicker.

But protesters have long held that the North West Ambulance Service will not cope and some NWAS staff have raised serious concerns - with two crew members telling the Gazette this week that closing WGH to acute admissions was a "ridiculous idea", "given the state of the ambulance service".

There have also been reports from some GPs, nurses and patients that bed shortages across Morecambe Bay have recently led to "chaos" - suggesting further problems could follow once dozens of medical beds in Kendal are lost.

However, chief executive of the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust, Tony Halsall, along with NWAS bosses and medical experts, this week stressed the cuts were about safety, and that patients would face better chances of survival once WGH was downgraded to a centre focused on rehabilitation.

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