CONTROVERSIAL changes to a North-East hospital which include the closure of an accident and emergency department will get under way this summer.

The changes also mean that increasing numbers of patients from Darlington and Durham City who are due to have planned surgery will be asked to travel to Bishop Auckland General Hospital for their operation.

Two months ago health bosses at NHS County Durham accepted proposals from County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust to centralise acute medical services on two rather than three hospital sites. This decision was taken despite the Save Our Hospital group’s petition which collected 16,000 signatures.

One of the main concerns of campaigners was the loss of an A & E unit, which will mean that anyone from the Bishop Auckland area needing treatment for a serious, life-threatening injury or illness will have to be taken to either Darlington Memorial Hospital or the University Hospital of North Durham, in Durham City.

The first change at Bishop Auckland General Hospital is likely to be next month opening of a cataract centre. In July, the existing A & E – which already does not admit emergency trauma cases such as car accidents – will close and be replaced with an urgent care centre.

Hospital bosses believe the change will not affect about twothirds of the patients who currently visit the A & E department in Bishop Auckland every year.

Trust officials have said the new urgent care centre will be open 24- hours a day, staffed by hospital doctors, nurses and GPs. A planned surgery centre serving the entire county is due to come on stream sometime this summer.

There are also plans to open a rapid medical assessment unit in October, where GPs can refer patients for tests and a consultant appointment on the same day. A rehabilitation and recovery unit is due to open in October.