THE PHARMACY is set to be the next service cut at troubled Wharfedale Hospital as nursing staff claim ward one has already closed and morale is at rock bottom on the eve of its second anniversary.

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (LTH) says outline proposals are being drawn up to reduce the opening hours of the pharmacy to mornings only, but insists the move isn't linked to the acute elderly ward closure.

The Trust only announced the closure plan in December, and employees were originally told it wouldn't shut until the end of March.

They were later told the date had been brought forward to the end of January, but last Wednesday almost all of the patients were moved to ward two.

A member of staff, who did not want to be identified, said: "Ward one closed completely, apart from one bay of four patients, last Wednesday.

"When I went to work we were told we had to move all the other patients to ward two.

"Some were wondering what the heck was happening to them and visitors were coming and wondering where they had gone, there had been no notice.

"So the ward is effectively closed already. It has happened far too quickly. We're speechless, to be honest, it's very upsetting.

"One of the staff nurses went in on Wednesday and was told in the afternoon she might as well go and finish at Leeds General Infirmary (LGI).

"Now there's more staff than they need they're re-interviewing everyone and sending people to wards at LGI that are supposedly in crisis.

"They're sending us in taxis for now, so there isn't an issue of transportation, but how much is that costing?

"I saw in the Observer last Thursday that Greg Mulholland was trying to save the ward and I could have started crying, it's already too late.

"It will be exactly two years tomorrow since Princess Anne officially opened it and we've lost a ward and morale is really, really low.

"A lot of staff think the same thing's going to happen to ward two within 12 months, that's what makes it hard trying to fight for your job here."

The Trust insists the phased closure of ward one is ongoing, but expects all patients to be accommodated in ward two before February.

A LTH spokesman said: "We are in the very early stages of discussing how the closure will impact on other related services. At the same time clinical teams are looking at how vacated space can be used to increase other areas of activity.

"Outline proposals are being drawn up to reduce the opening hours of the pharmacy but these will contain all the necessary measures to ensure medicines continue to be dispensed to the small number of patients who require them in the afternoons."

Otley MP Greg Muholland said: "I got a call saying the ward had closed and the staff didn't expect this, I've spoken to one who says the place is in chaos.

"I think it's absolutely clear ward two will be gone within 12 months. I've also been told there are going to be a wider range of service cuts, including the pharmacy hours.

"This is turning into something quite extraordinary, staff are talking about the place being stripped bare.

"Sadly, I probably think it is too late to save ward one but I'm not going to let this go. I'm going to make people accountable."

Councillor Graham Kirkland (Lib Dem, Otley and Yeadon) raised concerns over the hospital's future at Monday's Health Scrutiny Board meeting, which agreed to debate the issue in February.

  • OTLEY MP Greg Mulholland has called an urgent public meeting to discuss the future of Wharfedale Hospital.

He says it is time for answers and is urging as many people as possible to take this chance of voicing their concerns.

"Readers of the Wharfedale and Airedale Observer will have been following the disappointing news of the closure of Ward 1 at Wharfedale General Hospital," he said this week.

"The way the Leeds NHS Trust took the decision, without any consultation with the Hospital Forum or local people, is disgraceful, and makes a mockery of the purpose of the Forum which is supposed to be to consult over developments at the hospital.

"I have raised the matter both with the Health Minister and the Council's Scrutiny Board pressing for an investigation into the handling of this closure. Sadly, Ward 1 is now closed, despite the fact that there are still a number of patients on it and that staff are already facing a choice between having to work at other hospitals or being made redundant.

"However, I will continue to hold health bosses to account for the totally unacceptable way they have carried this out as well as questioning why they have taken this decision."

Mr Mullholland said there was no doubt that the decision had been taken for financial reasons as a result of the desperate state' of the NHS, both locally and nationally, and that the cuts which are taking place would undoubtedly affect levels of service.

"However, the greater worry which people have expressed to me about the Wharfedale Hospital is that decisions such as the one to close Ward 1 will mean that the hospital will become little more than a glorified clinic' rather than a hospital serving the local community.

"There are real concerns about the future of other services and so far local health chiefs remain silent about these queries as well as not being prepared to guarantee the future of the remaining elderly ward, ward.

"Amazingly they admit there is no clear strategy for the hospital in place, which has led many people to wonder what will become of it."

The meeting is on Monday, January 29, at 8:15pm at Otley Civic Centre.