AN MP has hailed sweeping health changes as a way of possibly restoring maternity services to Huddersfield.

Colne Valley MP Jason McCartney believes new measures giving GPs more power to commission services could help return full services to the Royal Infirmary.

Thousands of people in the town have lobbied to get full services back to Huddersfield, rather than having expectant mums face the journey to Calderdale Royal Hospital in Halifax.

Now Mr McCartney is hoping he can use the measures proposed by Health Secretary Andrew Lansley as a lever to restore more services to the Infirmary.

He raised the issues in a Commons debate when he asked the minister: “Thousands of patients in my constituency are desperate for specialist maternity care to be returned to Huddersfield Royal Infirmary, which was downgraded under the previous Government.

“Does the White Paper make the return of consultant-led maternity services to Huddersfield more likely?”

Mr Lansley said: “The White Paper will enable GPs in an area, plus their local public and their local authority, to make decisions about the shape of services rather than its being done by ministerial diktat.”