A COUNCILLOR has voiced concerns over the provision of hospital care for patients who want to be closer to their home in the Yorkshire Dales.

North Yorkshire County Councillor John Blackie raised his concerns at a recent Richmondshire Area committee meeting of the county council after hearing from an elderly Dales woman who had been treated at Darlington Memorial Hospital after a fall at home.

The woman’s husband was unable to visit due to the distance and lack of reliable public transport so it was requested that she be moved to Richmond’s Friary Community Hospital.

Cllr Blackie said: “Despite being told she could move to Richmond, this decision was changed at the last minute because beds at the Friary are allocated on the basis that a local GP would visit daily.

“The Central Dales Practice in Hawes does not have access to beds as doctors can't commit to visiting every day – so there should be some agreement for people in the Upper Dales to be able to use the Friary Hospital and be seen by a Richmond GP.”

Cllr Blackie said the woman had now been able to return home with extra support – but feared that others could be in the same situation unless a solution was found.

He added: “Please do not misinterpret this as there being anything wrong with the excellent care offered by the Darlington Memorial Hospital because there is not.

“It is because the Friary at Richmond would be a much more appropriate setting for Dales patients, and I am absolutely sure that the health and well-being of elderly Dales residents would benefit from being an in-patient there.”

He said: “I have heard from Dr Mike Brookes from the Reeth Medical Centre who said the surgery is in the early stages of developing an idea with the CCG to provide a small network of supported community beds across Swaledale and Wensleydale, which I would be delighted to work with him on.”

A spokeswoman for Hambleton, Richmondshire and Whitby Clinical Commissioning Group said: “The CCG is considering ways of dealing with this issue and is speaking to GPs.”