A senior international professor who specialises in end of life care has condemned plans to strip beds from Alston hospital.

Professor Sheila Payne, of Lancaster University, is director of the International Observatory on End of Life Care and a former president of European Association of Palliative Care.

She works alongside Alston resident Jane Mayes, who is also research editor at Free University of Brussels and has flagged up her local hospital as setting a global example for good end of life care.

Under the Success Regime's current plan, Alston hospital would lose all its beds. End of life care would instead be provided in people's own homes or at a hospital outside the town.

In a letter, signed by both women, they raise "deep concerns" about the consultation document, and the "striking lack of public health policy expertise and evidence-based research it demonstrates".

It adds: "Nowhere in the document is end of life care mentioned. Alston hospital provides excellent end of life care, as measured by internationally-recognised indicators, and most residents of Alston Moor choose to spend their last days or weeks there.

"It would be shockingly destructive to abolish such an excellent facility."

The letter warns: "The quality of dying will deteriorate rapidly, leading to bad deaths. A bad death can cause greater future ill health in the bereaved, both mental and physical.

"Having your relative die at home ca

n also be extremely demanding and the burden on family carers is known to be great."

"The NHS End of Life Care Strategy 2008 explicitly recognises the need to offer more choice to patients and families.

"Countrywide - though not on Alston Moor - the majority of people choose to die at home. Sadly, only half of them achieve that. In Alston, with the difficulties of access and provision of services, it is likely that many more than half will end up dying in a general hospital."

Also this week, the Churches Together of Alston Moor have al

so written a letter opposing the Success Regime plans.

Signed by Methodist, Catholic and Church of England leaders in the town, it states: "As the clergy responsible for the churches on Alston Moor, we are deeply concerned by the Success Regime’s proposal to remove the beds from Alston Hospital. We believe it doesn’t allow for the particular geography of the area nor the nature of the hospital itself, that it would damage the wellbeing of the people in our care and

wouldn’t achieve the intended objectives."

They go on to set out a detailed list of concerns, including the accessibility issues posed by the regularly bad weather on Alston Moor, which is regularly cut off by snow.

"Even if Alston itself is accessible, other places in the parish may not be. A church service in Nenthead was cancelled last month because a priest couldn’t get through the snow. How will care be offered to patients at home if nurses and carers are unable to reach them?" they ask.

Other issues include lack of public transport, travel times for healthcare staff, communication difficulties which would affect plans for more 'telemedicine', impact on end of life care, and ultimately the effect it would have on the wider community.

They urge the Success Regime to think again, and instead consider an alternative plan that has been drawn up by locals to retain the beds and expand the hospital.

If you haven't already, don't forget to sign the petition against the Success Regime plans here .

*Alston Moor Parish Council is to hold a community vote next Thursday about the closure of the area's in-patient beds.

The vote will take place at Samuel King's School and transport will be provided for those who need it. All those on the new electoral register will be eligible to vote and will receive a polling card.

The results will be submitted to the Success Regime as part of the consultation process.