HOSPITAL bosses should restore full midwife cover at Helme Chase maternity unit in Kendal to end uncertainty over its future, according to MP Tim Farron.

It is a year since the trust removed 24-hour, seven day a week cover at the Westmorland General Hospital unit and introduced an on-call service for people wanting to give birth to their babies overnight or at weekends.

At the time, the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay Trust said it was a 'temporary' staffing measure. But Mr Farron said the trust had since failed to make any announcements about its future plans for the unit.

The Westmorland and Lonsdale MP has campaigned for the reintroduction of full cover since the measures were introduced and marked the first anniversary by calling on the trust to 'stop ignoring local people' who want a return to the full midwifery service and postnatal care unit 'they were promised a year ago'.

Mr Farron said: "I am really worried that they are using the excuse of introducing these temporary measures just to pave the way for closing the unit in the future. The Helme Chase unit is brilliant and mothers in the South Lakes need to be able to give birth in it whenever they go into labour, not just during office hours."