A HEALTH trust at the centre of rumours about the future closure of Darlington’s A&E department said the matter is not the subject of a public meeting this weekend.

The County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust (CDDFT) stated yesterday (Monday, May 2) that the sustainability of emergency services was being discussed as part of a wider Better Health programme up for public debate on Saturday.

But on Tuesday (May 3) Dr Boleslaw Posmyk, GP and clinical lead for the Better Health programme, said that Saturday’s public engagement event is “not about the future of Darlington A&E”.

However, Darlington MP Jenny Chapman, who has previously criticised the trust’s lack of openness, said it was “disingenuous” to say that that Darlington Memorial Hospital’s A&E department would not be up for discussion.

She said the meeting will give people the chance to tell health chiefs what services are important to them – including A&E departments.

“Of course it (the meeting) is about A&E, it is disingenuous to say that it isn’t about A&E,” said Ms Chapman.

“It is about more than the A&E department but to say that it isn’t about the future of A&E is misleading.”

Ms Chapman added that she has met with the trust’s chief executive to establish the intentions of the meeting and understands that the future of Darlington’s A&E will be up for discussion as part of a wider debate about services.

In his statement, Dr Posmyk said the meeting was about making sure patients can get care from the right specialist in a life threatening-emergency, and was one of several similar meetings being held across County Durham and the Tees Valley.

He added: “The medical evidence shows that where patients are admitted to specialist centres seeing a high volume of patients with similar problems, the outcomes are much improved.

“We already do this for heart attacks and major trauma injuries, improving survival rates by 20 per cent.

“Our clinicians believe there are other patients who would benefit from treatment in a specialist environment, where there is senior staff on duty seven days a week, with the right support services.

“We want to talk to local people in all of the areas we serve about how we do this.

“No decisions have been made, and any changes to services will be subject to public consultation.”

The engagement event takes place at Darlington’s Dolphin Centre on Saturday at noon, and Ms Chapman is also attending an earlier public meeting at Bondgate Methodist Church at 10.30am for people to air their views.

For more information and to register your attendance at the Dolphin Centre event, visit nhsbetterhealth.org.uk/get-involved/ email necsu.betterhealthprogramme@nhs.net or call 01642-745401.