Farron - join 1200 people standing up for Helme Chase

Tim Farron has urged local residents to 'stand up' for Helme Chase and join the campaign to bring back a 24 hour maternity service to Westmorland General Hospital.

The petition, has been signed by 1209 local people and Tim is urging even more local residents to bring back this vital service. Until recently the unit was staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Now midwives are on call from home overnight and at weekends. Tim has today reiterated his call for hospital bosses to publicly confirm that changes to staffing at the unit are only temporary, but is still waiting for the hospitals trust to clarify that this is a temporary measure. He wrote to the trust in December and has received a deeply unsatisfactory response from senior trust officials.

The petition to bring back 24 hour maternity services to Helme Chase can be found here: http://timfarron.co.uk/en/petition/helme-chase-petition-bring-back-24-hr-service

Tim said: "An on-call maternity service is not good enough and we need a full 24 hour service to be brought back. The Hospital Trust said that the decision was just a short term measure and then they have gone quiet - we need to keep up the pressure and keep working tirelessly to bring this vital service back.

"I am urging local people to sign this petition and add their voice to our campaign. Health bosses must hear that local people demand this vital service back."