PEOPLE living in the South Craven area have been reminded to share their opinions about community care services, as an NHS consultation comes to a close.

They can still voice their own views on these services, in a consultation covering the whole of Craven district, no later than Tuesday February 27.

This consultation has called for public feedback on community services for adults who need rehabilitation or additional support to prevent them becoming acutely unwell, or adults needing care when they near the end of their lives.

Dr James Thomas, GP clinical lead at NHS Airedale, Wharfedale and Craven Clinical Commissioning Group, said: “We've received excellent feedback online, through the post and at the meetings held to discuss the options. We want to hear as many people’s views as possible.

“It’s important to know what matters to local people so we can design services and make decisions that personalise care and support patients and their families in the long-term.

“As a local GP, I understand how important community care is to people in Craven, especially being a rural community.

"If people can’t come along to our last drop-in session, I'd urge them to take the time to either fill out the online survey, e-mail or write to us so their views are taken into account.”

The formal consultation follows an engagement exercise during summer last year, which was used to shape the two options being consulted on.

The options are: continue to provide inpatient care in the community and restore Castleberg Hospital, in Settle, or provide an enhanced range of care in people’s homes or in an alternative community setting, and close Castleberg.

Castleberg was temporarily shut in April 2017 due to safety concerns following ongoing issues with the power supply, heating and drainage at the ten-bed site.

Since then additional community services, including inpatient beds in local care homes, have been provided, including provision at Airedale Hospital.

A final public drop-in consultation session will be held on Thursday February 22 from 6pm to 8pm at Gargrave Village Hall.

Those who can't attend can complete the consultation questionnaire online by visiting bit.ly/careincraven or provide their views by emailing engage@awcccg.nhs.uk.

People can also take part by post by writing to: Care in Craven Consultation, Freepost RTEK-UHKG-UBEK, Douglas Mill, Bowling Old Lane, Bradford, BD5 7JR. No stamp is needed.

Full details on the consultation are available on the CCG’s website at: http://bit.ly/AWCconsultations

It is expected a final decision on the future of community care services in Craven will be made in May.