THREATS to close Skipton General Hospital as part of a £1.6 million cost cutting exercise has sparked angry criticism from people throughout the town.

Since last week's announcement that the future of the hospital on Keighley Road was uncertain calls and letters of shock and disbelief have flooded into the Herald.

"How does the loss of local services improve care for local people?" asked Dr Alan Hassey from the town's Fisher Medical Centre. "The answer is it doesn't."

Last week Bob Allen, the chief executive of Airedale NHS trust, said the closure of the hospital was being looked at as a way to save money, but that negotiations were at an early stage.

Dr Hassey said particularly worrying would be the loss of intermediate care services, which kept people out of hospital.

There was no space at Airedale to relocate Skipton General's services which include outpatients, radiology, blood testing, chiropody and physiotherapy, said Dr Hassey.

Dr Helen Wilkinson, also based at Fisher, described the closure as a "retrograde step" for community services. She said: "People need to be seen locally at a local hospital. I feel it would be a loss to close it."

She asked where services like the out of hours doctors service and the renal unit would be would be re-housed?

Retired doctor Brian Fisher said: "I was horrified when I read about it in the paper last week. I feel it would be a marked deterioration of service in a rural area."

He said that when Raikeswood Hospital closed promises were made to spend money on Skipton General and if necessary enlarge it. But these had been ignored.

Closing Skipton General as part of a cost-cutting exercise was "short-sighted" and did not take into consideration the needs of the patients or the community, said Dr Fisher.

He hoped that if faced with enough opposition Airedale NHS Trust would see its way to retaining the outpatient service and the day hospital for the elderly.

Dr Fisher added that residents, in particular the elderly and people living in outlying areas, should not be expected to travel to Airedale where they had to pay to park, for routine x-rays and tests.

When Robert Chapman began work as a senior charge nurse at Skipton General Hospital in 1963 there were three hospitals in the town. But he claims local services have been "chipped away" at a detriment of the community.

He asked how much more of the "family silver" Airedale NHS Trust was going to sell just to keep afloat?

"The majority of people leading a normal life do not care about hospitals. But when something happens to you or one of yours you expect the service to be there. Unfortunately for the people of Skipton it is not going to be there. That is what worries me," said Mr Chapman.

He was also sceptical about Bob Allen's claim in last week's paper that discussions were at an early stage and no decision had been made.

There was further opposition from Peter Putwain, chairman of Airedale Community Health Council.

He said: "The CHC's view is that the reduction or loss of patients' services is not an option at a time when the taxpayer will have to pay more in tax and National Insurance contributions and we are told that more money is going into the NHS.

"Airedale Community Health Council urges the Airedale NHS Trust to swiftly conclude this business and lift the threat to these communities.

"In our opinion there are no well founded reasons or necessity for closing any of these hospitals and it is physically impossible, because of lack of space, for Airedale General Hospital to be able to re-provide them."

District councillor Stephen Butcher, who was recently voted onto Airedale CHC, added his voice to the protests.

"Four very important areas of care are carried out at the Skipton hospital: physiotherapy, blood testing, outpatients and x-ray. If the hospital is closed all this will be transferred to Airedale which will add to the waiting list.

"With the additional possible closure of Bingley and Ilkley hospitals, it will mean an additional 25,000 patients for Airedale - 7,000 from Skipton - which is just not acceptable. It is vitally important that pressure is put on Craven, Harrogate and Rural District PCT to provide more money for Airedale," he said.

It is expected that the closure plans will go out for consultation.