The fight to save a hospital ward from the axe has been taken to the Secretary of State for Health.

Otley MP Greg Mulholland has written to Patricia Hewitt to ask her to suspend the closure of Ward 1, an acute older people's ward, at Wharfedale Hospital.

In his letter, Mr Mulholland said: "I am writing to you as a matter of urgency to refer to you the decision to close Ward 1.

"The way the decision was taken is unacceptable for a number of reasons and I am therefore asking you to immediately suspend the closure and halt the process of staff redundancies and redeployment, pending a proper investigation."

He said the probe should focus on nine areas, including lack of consultation with Leeds Primary Care Trust and a claim that the decision was taken for purely financial reasons.

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust insists it should still be able to treat the same number of elderly patients at the hospital if the ward closure goes ahead.

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