A decision on the future of Ongar's beleaguered War Memorial Hospital is likely be made in the next few weeks.

The prediction by a Government spokesman comes as Health Minister John Denham has agreed to meet local Tory MP Eric Pickles and campaigners fighting to save the hospital, which has been plagued by uncertainty for two years.

The breakthrough over the destiny of the hospital centres on vital information Mr Denham demanded from North Essex Health Authority.

Its delay led to last week's crisis meeting of Essex and Herts NHS Trust at which 100 angry Ongar residents forced health chiefs into a U-turn over emergency closure plans because of a staffing shortage.

A Health Department spokesman told the Gazette: "The Minister was awaiting information about the original proposal to close the hospital and then re-open it as a private nursing home with some GP beds.

"He was not satisfied that this was practical. He has now received facts and figures and will be in a position to decide once he has met Mr Pickles and local representatives. The decision could be in the next few weeks."

Mr Pickles said: "I warned Mr Denham about what was going on last week and he made some inquiries and also agreed to meet us. I have known him for 20 years and he is a reasonable man.

"We have an unanswerable case and I'm glad that we have the opportunity to put it to the Minister."

District councillor Doug Kelly, who has been active in the battle against closure, said: "We welcome the chance to put our views to Mr Denham like we did to his predecessor, Alan Milburn.

"It will give us the opportunity to correct some impressions he may have been given."

The NHS trust and the health authority have been accused of adding to the uncertainty and causing difficulty in recruiting nurses for Ongar.

Local campaigners feel that proposing closure without waiting for Mr Denham's decision undermined the Minister's authority.

Cllr Kelly and Save the Hospital Campaign chairman Edwyn Gilmour have both challenged the trust's figures on finance and staffing.

At a public meeting in Ongar in June 1997 worried residents were told that the £600,000 annual cost of running the hospital was the reason it had to close.

Cllr Kelly says that when challenged, the trust recalculated and cut the annual cost to £476,000, then £459,000 and, eventually, £406,000 - a 33% reduction.

At last week's meeting health chiefs blamed the temporary closure of the in-patient part of the hospital on the shortage of trained nursing staff.

"What happened to the cost argument?" asks Cllr Kelly. "The hospital has been open for two years longer than the trust said it could afford, yet it now assures us that cost is not an issue. I am confused."

Mr Gilmour said: "We think the trust's figures are rubbish: the staffing level is the same now as when there were 22 beds."

League of Friends chairman Mrs Sheila Jackman has said that should the Minister decide to keep the hospital open, the league's offer of £20,000 a year for five years was still available.

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