MP questions case of 'robbing Peter to pay Paul'

Local MP Tim Farron has questioned the Department of Health on the financial impact on the local Ambulance Trust of the Hospitals Trust's proposal to move emergency admissions from Kendal to Lancaster and Barrow.

Tim says: "This really could be a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul. The proposal by the Hospitals Trust to save money by moving emergency admissions away from Kendal is going to cost the Ambulance Trust in longer journey times.

"In my question I have asked the Secretary of State for Health if she has made an assessment of the cost of the extra burden placed on the Ambulance Trust - and if not, why not!

"It is ridiculous that, at the moment, you have one part of the NHS playing off another part. We saw this over the mental health ward closures when the bulk of the savings made by the Primary Care Trust were at the expense of the Hospitals Trust. We need to Government to understand that, so far as most people are concerned, the NHS is one organisation which should work together."