A DISABILITY action group has started a petition calling for the continued operation of the Royal Berkshire Hospital's (RBH) hydrotherapy pool.

It was announced last week that the Craven Road facilities would close on March 31, leaving multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's and artheristus sufferers without nearby, funded pool facilities.

Now the Berks Disabled People Against Cuts group have waded into the argument.

A statement on their petition reads: “Hydrotherapy helps people who find it difficult or impossible to move on land, because the warm water supports their bodies.

“The therapists can also help in ways that are impossible in a treatment room. People with a wide range of ages and conditions, including pregnant women, find it invaluable.

“Yet RBH claims its benefits are unproven and that it costs too much.

“The benefits are well documented and that far too many people will be left without access to hydro if they close their pool, because private use is very expensive and we can't find any other NHS pool in Berkshire.”

So far the petition has 203 signatures, 297 short of its target.

Linda Trenchard, from Reading, outlined how the pool had helped her.

“I might never have regained my mobility, or retained it since, without out-patient visits to the hydro pool,” she said.

Sarah Fenwick-Stubbs added that the pool had helped her manage pain levels during her pregnancy.

The news of the pool's closure came in a letter sent to the facility's users by Dr Janet Lippett, the hospital's care group director, on November 14.

Dr Lippett wrote that the annual running costs of £60,000 and £50,000 of investment required to keep the pool going was not in the Trust's 2016/17 capital investment plan, despite the £49,780 generated by the pool each year.

A statement from the RBH said that the service was only used by a small number of patients and that medical chiefs were required to make difficult decisions in terms of the best use of NHS facilities and money.

To sign the petition click here.