Otley health campaigners and MP Harold Best have met to discuss growing concerns about the future of services at Wharfedale General Hospital - despite the fears being dismissed by the hospital trust.

Mr Best received a delegation led by Councillor Phil Coyne (Lab, Otley and Wharfedale) in his constituency office last week and agreed to take up their concerns about the feared loss of operating theatres and surgical services at the hospital.

The delegation also included town councillor Gerald McGowan (Lab, Manor Ward) and other Otley health campaigners, including former town council leader Sue Egan. They claim that they are worried that services already agreed following extensive public consultation might be under threat.

It is understood that the

delegation has received

information from an unnamed source that plans are being considered to cut services at the hospital.

Mr Best has now offered to seek clarification from both Leeds Health Authority and Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and will be meeting elected councillors and senior representatives from both organisations to press for assurances that there will be no reduction in services.

Coun Coyne, who has already raised these concerns at the town council, said that he was delighted that Mr Best would be pursuing the matter and said that he would also be taking up the issue through the city council's Community Involvement Team for Otley and Wharfedale - which is still to meet officially for the first time.

"After years of discussion with the community, it has been agreed that the new Wharfedale Hospital should be developed in Otley," he said.

"The key issue now is to ensure that services at the existing site and within the new hospital structure continue to meet local needs and expectations."

Coun McGowan, who is also a member of Leeds Community Health Council, which represents the interests of patients, said: "It is vital that the views of the community, which had been clearly expressed during the health authority's consultation on the future of Wharfedale Hospital, should be respected and commitments met.

"What local people want to see is an actual increase in the number of operating theatres in use in our hospital. Working together within the community, we will do our best to ensure that this is the case."

A spokeswoman for the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said that she was not aware of any plans to close a theatre or any wards at Wharfedale General Hospital in the New Year.

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