Farron: Scrapping Westmorland General Hospital Night Sisters ‘Dangerous and Unacceptable’

South Lakes MP Tim Farron has today launched a campaign to save Westmorland General Hospital (WGH) Night Sisters, who are threatened by planned staffing changes by the local Hospital Trust and which are intended to come into effect in April this year.

The cuts, proposed by Morecambe Bay Hospital Trust, will remove Band 7 Night Sisters from WGH from April 2011, despite local concerns on already depleted staff levels covering the night shift.

Tim has launched a petition on his website to gather local support for Night Nurses and has also taken the local concern to Westminster by tabling an Early Day Motion (EDM) in Parliament, stating his objection to the plans to remove the Night Sisters from WGH. The EDM affirms the vital role of local Night Sisters who provide essential clinical leadership at the hospital during the night and ensure that there is an Advanced Life Saving (ALS) qualified leader to the CRASH team, enabling an emergency response to any patient suffering a coronary emergency.

Commenting this afternoon, Tim said: "Removing the Night Sisters at WGH is completely unacceptable. They play an essential role in maintaining high standards and patient service within our local community; they are lynch-pin of the hospital overnight and are essential to ensuring patient safety."

"These cuts will put unnecessary pressure on an already stretched medical team at WGH and could severely affect the quality of healthcare available to local residents. I want to strongly encourage everyone to sign the petition on my website to show their support for this vital campaign to save our Night Sisters and stop this dangerous reduction in service at WGH."