NORTHWICH MP Mike Hall is joining forces with campaigners in a bid to save inpatient services at the town's Victoria Infirmary (VIN).

Mr Hall wants to know if there would be adequate provision for Northwich residents if the inpatient ward at VIN closed.

Mr Hall met campaigners on Friday to sign Save Our North-wich Inpatient Campaign (SONIC) petition - now at nearly 10,000 names - and said serious consideration was needed to be given as to where people from Northwich would receive treatment.

He said: 'It would be expensive to upgrade VIN but within the Mid-Cheshire Hospitals NHS Trust there is no other provision for Northwich people. If it closes the ward there will be a serious problem if facilities are not available elsewhere.

'It's difficult to challenge the recommendation which says an upgrade to VIN is needed but if there are no other provisions for the people of Northwich then you cannot close it.'

The Central Cheshire Primary Care Trust (CCPCT) wants to expand VIN's outpatient services but close the inpatients ward, which needs £3m worth of modernisation.

Mr Hall said that plans to reopen Elmhurst Nursing Home in Winsford as a temporary care centre for elderly patients could be one solution.

He said: 'But is it going to be designed to take the people of Northwich and offer what they need? If it would cost £2-3m to upgrade Northwich and £2m to open Elmhurst - which do we need the most? I have written to the Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority to get the answers I need.'

SONIC's June Chapman said: 'Support is growing all the time. We are still going to get as many signatures as we can. The more signatures we can the more they have to take notice of - we are not giving in without a fight.'

Meanwhile health chiefs stressed that a decision had not already been made regarding VIN.

The CCPCT said public consultation was underway and that people could have their say at a meeting on July 24, at 2pm, at Northwich Memorial Hall.

Chief executive Mike Pyrah said: 'The consultation will help to bring forward opinion on the future of the inpatient facility at VIN. It is recognised that local people feel very strongly about their local hospital and I will listen very carefully to all views expressed.'