A HEALTH chief has admitted that the axing of a ward at Otley's Wharfedale Hospital was a public relations disaster.

More than 300 angry residents heard Brian Godfrey, Leeds Teaching Hospital's clinical centre director for clinical support services, apologise for the surprise announcement of the closure of the elderly persons' ward before Christmas - as exclusively revealed in the Wharfedale Observer.

Mr Godfrey, who faced tough questioning from the capacity audience crammed in to the main hall at Otley Civic Centre, apologised on behalf of the trust for the way the closure had been handled.

And he promised that all services currently at the hospital would remain unchanged - unless there was prior consultation and agreement with the Wharfe-dale Forum.

"I am apologising on behalf of the trust. In hindsight, we cocked this up," he said.

Mr Godfrey explained that the closure of ward one - which he said would save the trust £500,000 per year - had been made as part of across the board efforts to reduce its massive £25 million deficit.

But he admitted it was unfortunate that the decision had been made without consultation and in particular with the Wharfefdale Forum - which was set up to act as a go between for the trust and the people of Otley.

He said: "On December 8 we were told that we could close ward one at Wharfedale Hospital. That decision was not ratified until December 19 by the Strategic Health Authority. It was unfortunate that between December 8 and December 19, we did not get back to the Wharfedale Forum. It also coincided with the onset of Christmas.

"I do apologise on behalf of the trust for the way the ward was closed. We have taken account of what has happened and say it won't happen again."

Mr Godfrey admitted that the hospital suffered from not having a proper strategy and promised there would in the future be full consultation with the Wharfedale Forum.

"My role will be to take a leadership role in the forum. We have a great deal of bridges to build with the local community and with the staff at Wharfedale Hospital. We're not here to con local people, we want to deliver services and provide a vision for this hospital that is sustainable and will provide safe services.

"The profile of services at Wharfedale Hospital as they are at the moment will remain. Any change will be discussed and agreed with the forum."

Meeting chairman, Lawrence Wood, chairman of the Leeds patient and public involvement team, described the ward closure, which many people at the meeting believed would be followed by the closure of the remaining elderly persons' ward, as an outrage'.

"There was no consultation with staff, no consultation with the public, no consultation with the Primary Care Trust who are responsible for these patients, no consultation with councillors and most importantly, no consultation with patients and their relatives. I think that it is an outrage," said Mr Wood.

Carol Cochrane of the Leeds Primary Care Trust (PCT) added that they were unaware of the ward closure.

"This situation must not happen again. We do recognise that the trust is in financial difficulties, but we feel that we do need to have a jointly agreed strategy for Wharfedale Hospital," she said.

And Maureen Idle of Leeds Hospital Alert said she had been appalled'.

"There was no consultation with the people who matter. It was not unfortunate, it was an absolute disgrace and I will certainly recommend to my members that we take this up with - Patricia Hewitt. It is appalling that this happened and it should never be allowed to happen again."

Otley MP Greg Mulholland, who called the meeting, said afterwards that he welcomed the apology from the health trust and added he would make sure the trust stuck to its word to consult in the future.

"I think it was vitally important that we got an apology from the trust and crucially a promise that it would not happen again and I intend to ensure that the trust keeps to this promise."

But he added that he was frustrated that the trust could not give assurances over services for more than a year.

"It is extraordinary that there is still no clear idea of what Otley hospital is for and it is completely unacceptable that we have received no assurances about the future.

"It is quite extraordinary that the trust cannot even assure staff, patients and local people that the remaining elderly ward has a future for even the next 12 months."

Click here for full report on Otley's big public meeting