WITH hospital waiting lists what they are, and the funding problems that the National Health Service has, it makes sense to utilise whatever resources are available to speed up appointments and treatments for people.

So MP Greg Mulholland’s call for empty wards at Wharfedale Hospital to be brought back into use seems to make a lot of sense.

Many people in this area have to travel to Leeds for hospital appointments, and the hospitals there obviously have a very wide patch and a huge number of people to deal with.

The resulting waiting lists and delays can have a detrimental effect on those waiting for diagnosis or treatment, especially older people.

Those elderly or vulnerable people who need follow-up treatment or hospital stays would surely, as Mr Mulholland points out, benefit more from being able to have a hospital bed relatively on their doorstep rather than trekking into Leeds.

It does seem strange, in these days of mounting pressure on the NHS, that two wards at Wharfedale Hospital are effectively standing idle. Obviously there are the cost issues of staffing and resources to consider for Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust but it would seem to be a sensible solution to a problem that is not going to go away.

Let us hope that the Trust at least considers Mr Mulholland’s suggestion and looks at the logistics of bringing these wards back into use and creating a valuable resource for this area.