ANXIOUS patients face a wait of at least three months to discover what will happen to a mental health service in North Yorkshire.

The fate of the Hawthorn Day Unit, in Harrogate, is in the balance as NHS North Yorkshire and York debates whether it will be viable to run.

The health trust has said it must delay a review of the unit until the new year at the earliest, as it is in the process of legally tendering services.

The ward at Harrogate Hospital’s Briary Wing was closed in July due to staff shortages, and NHS North Yorkshire and York Community Mental Health Services said it would have to shut temporarily because of the staffing problems and a need to cut costs.

Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones has written to the trust asking for the review to be “speeded up” and asked for details of how users of the service would be consulted on its future.