THERE was no heckling or shouting, but anyone attending a public meeting about the future of the town's maternity unit could have had little doubt about the strength of support for the service.

Every positive comment about Helme Chase drew loud applause from the 120 people who had turned out for the meeting, organised by health watchdog body South Cumbria Community Health Council.

After a slow start, a rush of questions meant the two-hour debate could easily have gone on much longer.

One of the first speakers to attract applause was CHC member and county and district councillor Roger Bingham, who said the growth of family housing in Kendal and the surrounding villages had been greater in the last five or ten years than at any time.

The birth rate in this area might therefore be increasing, contrary to the national trend.

"This must affect the future of Helme Chase and the need for it to be retained," he said.

The need for the service to change at all was questioned by one man at the Stricklandgate House meeting, who pointed out Helme Chase was a local unit that had twice been awarded a Charter Mark.

"Local people think it's an absolutely superb service.

It's a flagship in the local health authority, so why on earth should we change it," he said.

Consultant in obstetrics and gynaecology Richard Shepherd was quick to point out that the health service does not stand still.

Government requirements meant consultants had to be much more involved in the care of obstetric patients, and not "leave everything to junior doctors", he said.

Currently only one consultant was on call at any one time, to cover the maternity units at Kendal and Lancaster.

"We find we cannot come up to Kendal and be on call for Lancaster at the same time," he said.

"If we are at an emergency at Lancaster and the consultant is called at Kendal, then there's a problem."

He said the proposals for some complicated births to be transferred to Lancaster, rather than Kendal, was only "formalising" what already took place.

The issue of whether planned Caesarean sections should continue to take place at Helme Chase was controversial.

Consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist Keith Jones said that in his specialism, when things went wrong, they went wrong very quickly.

If medical cover for patients undergoing operations could not be adequately provided in the future at Westmorland General then, he said: "We are duty bound to transfer that care to a unit where it can be offered."

CHC member and district councillor Janette Jenkinson, and Liberal Democrat spokesman for Westmorland and Lonsdale Tim Farron both drew loud applause when they spoke about their fears for the future.

Coun Jenkinson pointed out that Ulverston had had a midwife unit from 1971 to 1977, but it had been closed, and was still missed by local people.

A long-term commitment to a midwife-led Helme Chase unit was required, she said.

Tim Farron said a reduction in the number of births at Helme Chase could affect its future viability: "We are not talking about closure at the moment, we are talking about softening up for closure in the future."

Midwife Sally Sagar said births at Helme Chase had been static at around 600 a year, until the last 12 months when they fell to 500.

This was because women who required a certain procedure to speed up labour had not been able to have their deliveries at Helme Chase, she said.

MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale Tim Collins said he was reassured that Morecambe Bay Health Authority chiefs had said the three proposals for Helme Chase were not set in stone.

He asked what would happen if the midwives or the Morecambe Bay Hospitals NHS Trust put forward a different proposal to those in the consultation document.

Health authority director of public health Dr Nick Gent said the authority was "duty bound" to look at any alternative proposals as part of the consultation process.

l Following the public meeting, members of the CHC will be agreeing on their response to the Helme Chase consultation at their next meeting, on January 29, at 2pm in Barrow Town Hall.