FEARS for the future of a hospital have been raised by a town council which fears patients living in the rural area may be cut off from vital services.

Concerns were raised at a Barnard Castle Town Council when councillors said they feared recent ward closures at The Richardson Hospital is the first step on a ‘slippery slope’ for the facility.

Rumours that the future of the town's community hospital is in jeopardy first spread late last year when one ward was closed amid what Durham and Darlington Hospital NHS Trust described as a "staffing issue".

The Friends of Richardson Hospital also shared its concerns but was reassured 24 beds were still available in another ward.

Councillor Tony Cooke said transport for patients in Teesdale was a real issue, so closing the hospital would be disastrous.

“I feel that services are being totally withdrawn from the dales by both the NHS and Durham County Council,” he said.

“We are getting less and less and more people are living isolated areas who are not getting looked after.

“Once it starts to run down, how do we stop it and if we lose that hospital we have lost a damn good asset.”

However, Cllr Angela Grady added: “It’s hardly been there two minutes and we are closing wards – where’s the sense in that?”

The council agreed to write a letter of support to retain the hospital and now MP Helen Goodman has confirmed she will hold a public meeting to tackle the issue next month after holding a similar meeting about the future of the Urgent Care Centre at Bishop Auckland Hospital on Monday (January 18), where more than 200 people turn up to find out more about the hospital’s future from one of the Trust’s chief executives.

A spokesman for County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust said: “The Trust’s decision to amalgamate two wards at the Richardson Hospital was made to ensure a better quality of service for patients with more effective staffing, in line with national guidance on safer staffing levels.

“We have reconfigured the beds within the hospital but this has not changed the service provision.

“We are committed to working with the local clinical commissioning groups and other partners to discuss opportunities for utilising the space at the Richardson Hospital in different ways and developing further service provision from the hospital.”