A PUBLIC meeting will be held about the future of a County Durham community hospital.

Bishop Auckland MP Helen Goodman will host the meeting later this month so residents in Teesdale can raise concerns and ask questions about the future of the Richardson Hospital, in Barnard Castle.

The concerns stem from County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust's decision to amalgamate two wards.

The Trust has said the move was made to ensure a better quality of service for patients with more effective staffing but provision had not changed.

Ms Goodman said: "I have spoken to hundreds of local residents in Teesdale who are concerned about future commissioning of services at the Richardson Hospital in Barnard Castle.

"It was clear that there was conflicting information about the closure of the ward and this meeting is therefore an opportunity for the public to hear directly from NHS managers what they plan for the hospital and to tell them what services they would like to see.”

It is understood that representatives from the Trust, NHS Durham Dales, Easington and Sedgefield Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and the Friends of the Richardson Hospital will attend.

The meeting will be at Barnard Castle Methodist Church Hall, Scar Top, Barnard Castle, on Thursday, February 25, at 7pm.

To register or for information contact the Bishop Auckland constituency office on 01388-606900, by email at goodmanh@parliament.uk or visit helengoodman.org.uk.