JOURNALISTS have been told they will be refused entry to a meeting about the closure of Bootham Park Hospital.

The meeting, called for 4pm at West Offices in York, was described as a public meeting, but organiser Rachael Maskell MP this morning said it was not open to journalists.

In a statement, her office assistant said: "Rachael feels the presence of journalists may deter people from speaking."

The Press and Minster FM have objected, and the move has also been criticised by Hayley Harteveld, a former Bootham Park patient.

Speaking to Minster FM today, she said: It's essential that everybody knows. It's in everybody's interest to know what's going to happen with Bootham and to raise their views and I think it's important that the media try to cover this as much as possible."

She said some people would not like it to be known that they had mental health issues, but said: "If there are people like me who want to talk about it and are free to talk about it, we should all be listening and the press should be involved."

York Press:

Rachael Maskell MP has called for an inquiry into the closure of Bootham Park

She said some people would be more likely to speak if they knew the public would hear what they had to say.

Asked by the interviewer whether Ms Maskell's approach was misguided, Ms Harteveld replied: "I don't think she's helping attitudes about mental health. I think she's covering them up, putting a blanket over them - we don't need that. What we need is to have it in the open and to have it publicised as much as possible."

Yesterday, Ms Maskell called for an independent inquiry into the closure of Bootham Park, and thousands have now signed a petition against its closure.