Thousand voices stand up for Helme Chase maternity unit

South Lakes MP Tim Farron has thanked the 988 people who have signed his petition calling to bring back 24 hour maternity care to the Helme Chase unit at Westmorland General Hospital over the last seven days.

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. He wrote to the trust in December and has received a deeply unsatisfactory response from senior trust officials.

The petition can be found here: http://timfarron.co.uk/en/petition/helme-chase-petition-bring-back-24-hr-service. The petition says: "We, the undersigned, call on the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust to reinstate Helme Chase as a staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week maternity unit at Westmorland General. Now midwives are on call from home overnight and at weekends. We are calling for hospital bosses to publicly confirm that changes to staffing at Kendal's Helme Chase maternity unit are only temporary and to bring back 24 hour maternity services."

Tim said: "This response has been overwhelming and I'd like to thank everyone for signing the petition. Nearly a 1000 people joining the campaign in a week really shows the strength of feeling about our campaign. I have pushed the trust to make sure the unit stays open and that women will continue to be able to give birth at Helme Chase 24 hours a day, seven days a week. My children were born at Helme Chase and I will do everything I can to protect it."