A NURSE has told how colleagues have been in tears and have lost sleep after a decision to close a ward at Kendal's Westmorland General Hospital, reports Michaela Robinson-Tate.

The nurse said the closure of Ward 3 a rehabilitation ward for older people who need therapy before they can go home would only clog up other wards as patients could not be moved on.

However, bosses at the hospital said this week that Ward 3 was, in fact, now part of a larger rehabilitation unit. Patients could be accommodated across the unit, they said, and they reiterated their pledge that there would be no redundancies.

The 12 beds are being closed as part of a cost-cutting drive by Morecambe Bay Hospitals NHS Trust, which is trying to save millions of pounds.

However, the nurse who The Westmorland Gazette has agreed not to name because she is hoping to be appointed to another post at the hospital - said that Ward 3, as it existed, was to close.

"People are very, very upset because it's such a nice ward," she said.

"We feel every hospital needs a rehab ward. It's not surplus, it's not a luxury, it frees up all the beds from upstairs (the other wards).

"It's always full, in fact there's always a waiting list from the other wards. It's very, very unusual to have an empty bed.

The nurse understands that the ward, which is has already stopped taking admissions, is due to close this month.

Although the nurses have been told it is a temporary closure, she does not expect the ward to re-open.

The trust's chief operating officer, Kevin McGee, said that the old Wards 1 and 3 were now a rehab unit, with one nurse manager.

Mr McGee said that the hospitals trust was awaiting more information about a proposed privately-run one-stop treatment centre which could be opened in Kendal, as reported last week. He said if the clinic was located at Westmorland General it would be good news for patients, but the impact on the hospital was not yet clear.

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