A GP who says he was told there was no bed available in County Durham for an acutely ill patient has strongly criticised the downgrading of a hospital.

The long-serving GP, who asked not to be identified, said: “There is nothing left at Bishop Auckland Hospital. It is a disgrace.”

Changes at Bishop Auckland Hospital this week that culminated in the closure of its accident and emergency department included the loss of all acute medical beds.

On Thursday, the first day of the new arrangements at Bishop Auckland Hospital, the GP tried to arrange for a patient with a badly infected leg to be admitted.

He said he was told that acute medical patients were no longer admitted there and that he should try the University Hospital of North Durham, in Durham City.

But he was told the Durham hospital was also closed to medical admissions because all the beds were full.

The next step was to try Darlington Memorial Hospital, but the GP was again told that all acute medical beds were full. A hospital administrator took the patient’s details and said they would contact him directly when a bed became available.

The GP said: “This guy needed to be in hospital, but there were no beds in County Durham. He has mental health problems, cancer and had a badly infected leg. He needed intravenous antibiotics.”

The doctor said the reorganisation of County Durham hospitals, which has resulted in acute services being concentrated at Durham and Darlington at the expense of Bishop Auckland, had “failed on the first day”.

Dr David Robertson, secretary of County Durham and Darlington Local Medical Committee, said: “We would obviously be concerned if this becomes a common occurrence.”

The Barnard Castle GP also expressed concern that every County Durham hospital bed was occupied well before the winter flu season.

It is thought the patient was later offered a hospital bed.

A spokeswoman for the County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust told The Northern Echo: “The trust would not wish to comment on the individual case of a patient.

“However, the transitional period is being managed well across all three sites.

“The trust has undertaken a wide-ranging communications campaign, including regular GP briefings and public information to ensure that there is awareness and understanding of the changes to emergency care, in place from October 1.

“The trust would be happy to have any further discussions with individual GPs.”