RYEDALE MP John Greenway has added his support to local residents opposing any plans to downgrade Malton maternity unit.

The Scarborough and North East Yorkshire Healthcare NHS Trust is looking at three options to modernise maternity services in the area.

Although no decision has been made, local people have reacted with horror at one option, which would see the Malton unit shut and maternity provision centralised at Scarborough.

In a letter to Richard Grunwell, chairman of the NHS Trust, Mr Greenway writes: "Malton serves a very large rural area, including many villages with little or no access to public transport - Dr Jeffrie Strang, the (Scarborough, Whitby and Ryedale) Primary Care Trust's (PCT) director of public health, acknowledges this.

"The simple truth is that many families would experience considerable difficulty travelling to Scarborough, especially in the case of an emergency."

Mr Greenway, who visited the maternity unit in the run-up to Christmas, said he could understand why women chose to give birth at the community hospital.

He said he thought some of Ryedale's mums-to-be would choose York over and above Scarborough if Malton was no longer a viable alternative.

He said: "Under the new direction of the PCT, we want to see Malton Hospital develop its community facilities and I would hope that these would include the continuing availability of maternity facilities."

Meanwhile Derek Bartrop, of the PCT, has said Malton Hospital has a viable future and an increasing role to play in its community.

Asked about the maternity unit, he said: "We are quite happy that its future is being considered on the basis of its being one of a series of proposals, and that the NHS trust's modernisation group has the brief to look at all the options, and any others."

He agreed that taking account of patient needs and providing services where they live was crucial.

Updated: 11:36 Wednesday, January 22, 2003