THE NHS, following your front page story about the closure of the Lambert Hospital in Thirsk and the Rutson Rehabilitation Unit in Northallerton (D&S Times, Jul 8), has issued a clarification – the Rutson will remain, but with a reduced role.

The closure of the Lambert is still the preferred policy, despite vociferous opposition from a well attended public meeting, and formal opposition from the Thirsk Town Council.

The various tiers of NHS management have advanced a barrage of excuses for the closure, including the condition of the building (reasonable, given the age of the property, and under-investment in recent years); staffing problems (Thirsk is too far from an airport for staff from Europe to fly home for weekends – can anyone think of an area in the North that is more accessible to any number of airports?).

They say there has been no response to advertisements of staff vacancies, and the expense of placing those adverts (but there is no evidence that the free NHS Jobs website, the first port of call for healthcare staff, has been used), and they point to the comparative cost of providing respite, end-of-life care, and halfway-house care (as we all know, figures can always be presented in any way to back up an argument, however specious).

Most seriously, the occurrence of a couple of cases of pressure-sores, and one incidence of a C-Difficile infection, were cited as proving the inadequacy of the Lambert, when all of these cases probably developed in patients before they were admitted.

The proposed alternative to local hospital, into which much tender loving care has been poured and for which the town has enthusiastically raised funding, is a system based on small units attached to new or existing “extra care facilities”, such as Herriot Gardens or Meadowfields.

Staffing will be drafted in as required, supported by the Marie Curie charity, and there will be overnight accommodation for relatives.

It sounds a bit like a resurrected version of “care in the community”, of deserved illrepute.

There are no guarantees of future funding. Any flexibility in the new scheme could be just as easily used to cut provision rather than increase it in line with demand.

The proportion of elderly residents in the Hambleton district is significantly above the national average, and nobody is getting any younger.

The population of Thirsk is set to expand in leaps and bounds due to new housing developments – they will not all be 40-somethings.

Efforts should be directed to increasing provision, rather than cutting by stealth.

For this closure to proceed, all that needs to happen is for everyone to sit on their hands, and do nothing.

Ann MacNamara, Lambert Hospital Action Group, Thirsk