A CLOUD of uncertainty hangs over the future of a much-loved hospital after NHS bosses said they would be unable to find staff to run it for some time and the building was far from ideal.

A meeting to discuss the future of the Lambert Memorial Hospital, in Thirsk, also heard a public consultation to find whether residents wanted the infirmary's services offered in different settings, such as care homes, was a pointless exercise, as there was an overwhelming desire to retain the Lambert.

Senior figures from South Tees NHS Trust and Hambleton, Richmondshire and Whitby clinical commissioning group (CCG) faced jeers and came under intense questioning from residents and appeared to repeat arguments, such as patient safety, they used to justify the downgrading of the Friarage Hospital's maternity and paediatric unit two years ago.

The meeting at Thirsk School, which was attended by about 200 residents, saw the trust's chief executive Siobhan McCardle repeatedly decline to provide assurances about the infirmary's future and fail to respond to claims that qualified staff had been rebuffed after showing interest in working at the Lambert.

She denied the sudden stoppage of services at the 14-bed hospital, which provides general rehabilitation, diagnostics and assessment of patents’ present and future care needs plus pain control and palliative care, due to a lack of nurses last September was "closure by stealth".

The trust's director of nursing, Gill Hunt, insisted it had exhausted every avenue to recruit staff and added nursing shortages were likely to continue for up to two years.

CCG chief officer Janet Probert told the meeting the future of the Lambert was not as important as services and that it was looking to commission beds for palliative care elsewhere.

She added: "The floor is coming up, it's not a great premises. It is not a standard of facility that we would want to be providing care in."

Residents accused the NHS bosses of showing a lack of respect towards them, hiding behind a litany of excuses and called on the trust to hand over its recruiting process to another body.

The meeting heard a statement by Pat Chandler, 81, of Knayton, who said she had been looking forward to spending her last days at the Lambert, which had been a "Godsend to Thirsk".

Councillor Gareth Dadd, who chaired the meeting, said: "We have heard nurses were willing to come and work at the Lambert if the trust only would give reassurances about its future.

"The trust has been utterly lacking in its commitment to rectify the issue."