MORE than 3,000 people have added their voices to calls for a mental health rehabilitation service to be saved from closure - and the number is growing.

Campaigners and an MP have called for more transparency to show what decisions are being made and assurances there will be no closure "by the back door."

Carers Jill Dorrington and Angela Helder are spearheading the petition effort requesting that health bosses serving Bournemouth and Poole save Torch, the Treatment, Outreach and Rehabilitation services run from Hahnemann House in Bournemouth's West Cliff. Jill has a daughter who uses Torch and Angela a brother who benefits from care given by nurses at the centre.

Dorset NHS Healthcare bosses seeking to save £2.2m are considering the future of the service and whether it can be replaced through community teams.

Jill and Angela hope their petition will reach the 4,000 mark before it is taken to Westminster - possibly to either health secretary Patricia Hewitt or Prime Minister Tony Blair.

They are worried Torch is being run down during the current consultation process.

"There are still no new admissions being made at Torch. Where are the new people going now, does anyone know?" asked Jill.

Sharing their concern Mid Dorset and North Poole MP Annette Brooke has written to the Trust's chief executive Roger Browning.

Jill and Angela also want to know if Torch users will now have to go to hospitals or GP surgeries to have their regular blood tests taken rather than by staff they know and trust at Hahnemann House.

Angela said Torch users gain from being able to volunteer to help in the centre's kitchen and caf and from having staff and nurses around who know them well and whom they trust.

Often this is a stepping stone to outside sheltered work at places like Crumbs caf in Christchurch Road, Boscombe, and the Chestnut Nursery next to Poole Park.

A Dorset NHS Healthcare spokesman said the consultation process was continuing and a report would soon be presented to Poole council's health scrutiny committee.

Anyone wishing to add their name and comments to the Save Torch petition before it goes to London can do so at Legends caf, which is between Bournemouth Square and the town hall offices.

First published: August 19