An 11th-hour bid is being made to preserve rehabilitation services for Airedale's elderly, following the controversial closure of the last in-patient ward at Bingley Hospital.

A delegation from Airedale Community Health Council will on Monday meet Health Minister Alan Milburn to press the case for maintaining services in the area in the wake of the closure of Rowan Ward at the hospital 18 months ago.

The 17-bed ward gave rehabilitation care until it was shut in January last year as a temporary measure by Airedale NHS Trust chiefs and replaced by 16 beds for emergency cases at Airedale General Hospital.

Health secretary Frank Dobson will now decide the fate of the facility following objections to its closure by the patient watchdog.

CHC chief officer John God-ward said the visit by the four-strong team was a last resort to protect in-patient rehabilitation services for elderly patients.

Services had been maintained over the winter only because it was comparatively mild, but there was concern rehabilitation would be hit if there was a severe winter.

Mr Godward said: "We shall be emphasising we are not there to protect the building, but the in-patient rehabilitation service.

"The Prime Minister and Health Secretary said the health service would get more money and we believe in-patient rehabilitation services are just as important as anything else.

"How a person is rehabilitated can shape the future of their lives and help to determine whether or not they are going to live very long."

Shipley MP Chris Leslie, who has campaigned against the closure and will join the delegation to press the case, said the condition of the ward had deteriorated since its shutdown, but the need for the service had not gone away.

He said: "There is a lack of medium-term recuperation and rehabilitation services in the Airedale district, particularly in the public sector, but yet there is a need for it in the period when people have recovered from operations or injury and need a few weeks to re-adjust to normality.

"It is inappropriate for them to go home and could end up costing more in the long run.

"It would be nice to see Bingley Hospital used for that purpose.

"The NHS is not just about accident and emergency service - it's about all-round health care."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.