IN late September, you published an article about the ‘temporary’ closure of the Lambert Memorial Hospital, Thirsk, for a three month period, with an articulate reaction from Cllr Gareth Dadd opposing the action.

It was very surprising that there were no letters supporting him, but it is heartening to learn that a Lambert Hospital Action Group has been formed by local councillors (D&S Times, Nov 6).

It must be hoped that this little gem of a local hospital can be saved, especially when considering its use as a hospice facility. We are fortunate in this area having Herriot Hospice Homecare and the Marie Curie nursing service for those requiring terminal care at home, plus the advisory service of the Macmillan nurses of course, but there is no designated local hospice.

However the Lambert has always served this purpose, well before the hospice movement began.

Friends and family cannot pop-in to the James Cook Hospital in Middlesbrough for a few minutes’ chat, which is so often what a terminally ill patient needs – frequent contact but of short duration.

From the patient’s point of view, there is much in favour of a low-tech nursing environment, and it is also much kinder on the visiting family, many of whom are unable to cope with the effort and expense of the journey to Middlesborough or even the Friarage in Northallerton.

It can be comforting for both patient and family that they are geographically close, when a visit can be arranged at short notice.

My cynical view is that the three-month closure, particularly at short notice and seemingly with no publicity, was an attempt to test the waters. If there is to be little public reaction then it will be much easier for management to gain permanent closure of the Lambert, a hospital once gifted to the town in perpetuity, many decades before the NHS was founded.

I do wish the newly formed Action Group success, and hope local residents will support them.

Dr John Garside, Thirsk