Plans are in the pipeline to remove on-call doctors overnight from Kendal for three nights a week.
Currently, Cumbria Health on Call is consulting on plans to remove doctors on call from Westmorland General Hospital from 2am to 8am on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Instead, the out-of-hours doctors would be based at Furness Hospital in Barrow and Penrith & Eden Community Hospital.
MP Tim Farron, who represents Westmorland and Lonsdale, has launched a petition against the plans, because he says it will significantly increase travel times for doctors in the South Lakes.
Mr Farron said: “This reduction in our local health service is completely unacceptable and must be stopped.
“It is not acceptable to put vulnerable people, including those receiving palliative care, families caring for loved ones with dementia and patients with learning difficulties, in a position where they will have to wait much longer to receive care – especially those in our most rural areas.”
David Glover, chief operating officer of Cumbria Health on Call, said: “Access to our service is via NHS 111 and appointments are on a pre bookable basis. I can confirm there are no planned changes to the way patients access primary care out of hours.
“As Mr Farron has expressed, staff are being consulted regarding a slight change in staffing model whereby we will reduce the presence of a site based clinician at Westmorland General Hospital between the hours of 2am and 8am on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
“This is after a period of analysis that demonstrates that the requirement for the service is very much reduced and those patients who do require attention would still have access to the service they require. This will enable reallocation of our workforce in to more peak periods which would benefit both our patients and staff.”
The petition can be signed online here.
