A HOSPITAL campaign group has added its voice to calls for the new Prime Minister to visit west Cumbria.

The We Need West Cumberland Hospital group has written to Theresa May asking her to make the trip to see for herself the challenges facing the local NHS.

It comes on the back of an appeal by Copeland’s Jamie Reed, who became the first MP to invite her to his constituency during Prime Minister’s Questions last week.

The We Need West Cumberland Hospital group, which has a high-profile Facebook page, has long been fighting to save the Whitehaven hospital from service cuts, with fears more services – including consultant-led maternity – are soon to move to Carlisle.

Although the West Cumberland is in the middle of a major multi-million redevelopment, campaigners are concerned that focus is shifting from 24-hour emergency care to pre-planned surgery, with those needing urgent care instead travelling to the Cumberland Infirmary.

The letter to Mrs May says: “The 15,500-plus members of our group and the people of west Cumbria would very much like you to come and see our brand new hospital and visit this beautiful but remote part of the country to see the problems we are facing with regard to our health care.”

The Government-appointed Success Regime is currently carrying out a major review of north and west Cumbria’s health services, which are about £80m in debt. The controversial shake-up could also see community hospital beds close, with firm plans set to be published at the end of the summer holidays.

Mr Reed has long been calling for Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt to visit west Cumbria, so he can better understand the distances between hospitals and the impact poor infrastructure, such as roads, has on delivering healthcare on an ever-shrinking budget.

But Mr Hunt has yet to come to Cumbria. He also pulled out of a meeting with local health campaigners in London due to hectic work commitments.

Instead his junior minister Ben Gummer met them, and was handed a copy of a letter from the campaign group to pass on to Mr Hunt. Mr Gummer also promised to make a personal visit to west Cumbria – but he has since been moved to a new position in Mrs May’s Government and it is yet unclear if anyone else will take his place.

A We Need West Cumberland Hospital group spokeswoman said it has yet to receive a response to their letter, which called for an urgent commitment to retaining 24-hour consultant-led A&E, maternity and paediatric services in Whitehaven from the Government.

The new letter to Mrs May – which includes a copy of the group’s original, addressed to Mr Hunt – points out that there has been no reply, and calls on the Prime Minister to accept Mr Reed’s invitation urgently. “While we understand that your own schedule will be even more hectic than Mr Hunt’s, we hope that you will consider your first invitation to visit a constituency and accept it,” it adds.