A DIRECT call on the Government to step in and save Kendal's mental health ward has been made by the leader of the Liberal Democrats.

South Lakes MP Tim Farron challenged a Conservative health minister in a debate in Parliament on Monday.

In it Mr Farron praised the 'character' of the local community and said that the Government must show that is serious about mental health.

"This ward is providing excellent care from outstanding staff in a physical setting that requires some improvement," he said. "It most definitely does not require closure."

Although the Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust announced last week that the decision to close Westmorland General Hospital's Kentmere Ward, has been suspended until after the summer, Mr Farron believes that the decision is a 'stay of execution'.

"It has been very clear from my discussions with the Trust over the last few days that its default position is still to close the ward," he said.

Conservative health minister Alistair Burt MP refused Mr Farron's challenge to 'clearly instruct the Cumbria Partnership Trust not to close this vital ward' and to make clear that 'closure is off the table'.

But Mr Burt accepted that community services 'cannot be a total substitute for the inpatient acute beds that are needed'. However, he did not say that he would be standing with Mr Farron on the issue.

"The NHS has to make difficult decisions about where and how to provide services," he said. "To put it bluntly, everything cannot be available in every local community."

Earlier this week, Mr Farron also highlighted the strain that the closure of the ward would put on the police who would have to transport patients that have been sectioned.

If beds were no longer available in Kendal, officers would have to travel further afield, to Barrow or Whitehaven, Mr Farron argued.

A spokesperson for the Trust said that it needed to 'undertake a full assessment' before a decision could be made on the future of the ward.

"We want to make sure we have explored all possible options to avoid closure, however the Trust remains clear that the Kentmere unit does not meet all of the standards of a contemporary 21st century mental health inpatient unit that we want to provide for our patients," it said.

"The Board of Directors are clear that even if the minor upgrades enable us to meet minimum regulatory standards, that it will not tackle the significant long-standing quality and safety issues that would enable services to remain on the Kentmere site as they are in the medium to long term.

"However, we will feed our position into a review of the broader mental health inpatient service model which will be considered in a formal consultation process led by NHS Cumbria Clinical Commissioning Group due to commence later in the year."

Earlier this month the Westmorland Gazette relaunched its 'Hands Off Our Hospital' campaign urging the trust not to close the unit and has since received a flurry of responses from readers.

And Mr Farron's petition has also attracted .... signatures.

L Healthwatch Cumbria is hosting a drop in event so that the Trust can listen to community views following concerns about the possible closure of the Kentmere ward.

It will be held on Thursday June 30, between 1pm and 7pm, at the South Lakes Foyer, Yard 95, Stricklandgate, Kendal. Senior clinicians from the Trust will be on hand throughout the day to talk to members of the community and their views will be independently recorded by Healthwatch Cumbria who will then present a report to the Trust Board of Directors.