ANGRY Teesdale residents demanded answers on the future of a community hospital at a public meeting last night (February 25).

Hundreds of people packed into Barnard Castle’s Methodist Church Hall for the meeting, which was organised by MP Helen Goodman to discuss growing concerns about The Richardson Hospital, based in the town.

Representatives from the County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, NHS Durham Dales, Easington and Sedgefield Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and the Friends of the Richardson Hospital attended to help answer questions following concerns over a previous decision to merge two wards at the hospital.

Trust chief executive, Sue Jacques, gave a presentation about the “step-down” hospital, when she explained reasons for the ward merger included a shortage of staff and a lower demand for beds.

She also described the hospital as “cherished” and said there were “absolutely no plans” to close it while a recruitment drive was ongoing.

However, the Trust came under fire from two of hospital’s existing nurses who said the staff faced an uncertain future and were not being given answers to their questions.

One of the nurses, who did not want to be named, said: “A lot of the reasons why people have retired and left are because of the changes at the hospital and the way we have been treated.

“The Richardson is part of Barnard Castle; it’s a gift to Barnard Castle; to lose that now would be like losing the Butter Mart or the castle itself so I think we need to keep it and to have the Lowson Ward open as it was before.”

Other issues raised included care for older people and end of life care, Reverend John Moore, a former chaplain of Barnard Castle School, said he knew two elderly people who had recently died alone because they were stuck in Darlington Memorial Hospital.

“It’s hard on me to explain in economic terms why this is the case,” he said.

Teesdale Action Partnership member Ros Evans asked whether the Lowson Ward would be re-opened if there was a demand but was told demand was being met with the reduced 24 beds and was monitored daily.

Ms Evans also called for clarity on the wording of reports, saying: “We are being bamboozled by unnecessary rubbish”.

Ms Jacques said it was clear there had been a “breakdown” in communication and encouraged people to become members of the CCG to make their concerns known.