"Hospital fight can still be won" - Farron

Local MP Tim Farron is today urging local people not to give up in the fight to save Westmorland General Hospital from a dramatic reduction in services. Hundreds of local people have written formal complaints to the hospital trust, only to receive a standard letter informing them that the Trust does not intend to treat them as a formal complaint, and Tim Farron is urging people to write to the Healthcare Commission instead.

Tim Farron said:

"The fact that the complaints were not dealt with formally is a disgrace, but it is important that people do not give up and now take the opportunity to write to the Healthcare Commission.

"I am urging local people not to lose heart, but to move on to the next stage of the complaints procedure. After 6,000 people took part in a protest march through Kendal, and 26,000 people singed the petition opposing the planned cuts, we must continue to keep the pressure on health bosses to listen to local people.

"I am convinced that we can still save our emergency services at Kendal, so the fight must go on."