The MP for Barrow & Furness Simon Fell has written to the Chief Executive of Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust, Caroline Donovan to try and prevent the closure of the Ramsey Unit at Furness General Hospital.
The unit is the town’s only dementia assessment unit and provides vital care for vulnerable patients.
The plan is to temporarily move patients to Morecambe and possibly Kendal whilst building work is carried out on the unit.
This will mean that the staff, patients, and families will have to travel over 80 miles a day to work or visit their family.
Currently the colleagues who work at the unit have said that they are unaware of the long-term plan is for the service to return to Furness and that they have only recently found out about the news.
Some of the colleagues have contacted the MP to ask for help for themselves, and their patients as they are devastated about what the closure will mean for the local community.
In the letter Mr Fell said: “This move will impact so many who live locally whether it be NHS colleagues, patients or families. Therefore, I would urge you to reconsider the decision to remove this service so abruptly and to properly consult with the staff, patients and families of those who will be affected. And if the patients have to be moved while building work is ongoing can a more suitable and closer alternative be offered, such as Gill Rise in Ulverston?
“I would also appreciate it if you could share with me the long-term plan to reinstate the dementia care services in Furness.”
