Last updated 09:46, Friday, 20 June 2008

Over the past few years supporters of various cottage hospitals throughout Cumbria have been fighting to save the local hospital provision in their areas.

Their efforts paid off when the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority made a grant of £90m to the PCT to ensure their survival.

On Monday it became apparent that these efforts to attract the NDA’s money had been in vain.

At a public “consultation” meeting in Brampton, residents and concerned groups were invited to comment on the proposed ‘health village cum social cum youth cum community cum business centre’ which is to be financed by a one-off grant from the health service (funded with our money) and the sale of Carlisle City Council’s (ours), Cumbria County Council’s (ours) and PCT’s (ours) assets.

The sting? A decision has to be made by the autumn.

Can someone enlighten me?

• Why does a proposal of this size have a scant three months’ consultation?

• Why were Cumbria County Council’s representatives so wholly open to public suggestion that they were reduced to scribbling notes on the maps?

• Why had these professionals apparently missed the added traffic implications inherent with the proposed options?

• Where was PCT representative?

MALCOLM HILL
The Sands
Brampton