COUNCILLORS in Darlington have vowed to ‘keep a close eye’ on any proposed changes to hospital services in the borough.

Concerns have been raised in recent weeks about the future of Darlington’s accident and emergency department and the town’s MP Jenny Chapman has held meetings with NHS bosses and called for more openness about the situation.

At Thursday’s full meeting of Darlington Borough Council, Cllr Andy Scott said that although the Better Health Programme is not about closing Darlington’s A&E, he urged colleagues to keep abreast of developments.

He said: “Since public concerns have been raised, I welcome the comment from the trust that they are committed to the A&E.

“However, we are still receiving information from staff members of the trust saying that there will be significant changes to these services and we have seen it where other hospitals have been downgraded and the public gets a much lesser service from their hospital.

“I think it is right to be concerned and I think it is right for us as councillors to keep a close eye on it and I welcome that.”

Public meetings have already been held in Darlington to allow health officials to present the Better Health Programme to residents.

The programme is being led by senior clinical staff who are examining how the NHS in Darlington, Durham and Teesside can improve patient outcomes.

This has led to fears among some that services, including A&E, are under threat at hospitals such as Darlington Memorial.

At Thursday’s council meeting, Conservative group leader Cllr Heather Scott echoed Cllr Andy Scott’s sentiments about remaining alert to the situation.

She said: “The Better Health Programme isn’t about A&E but we do have to keep a close eye on that and I think it is right that the public keep an eye on it.

“We must make sure that we work very hard to ensure that the voices of the Darlington public are taken into account and listened to by the trust.”

Liberal Democrat group leader Anne-Marie Curry said that the Better Health Programme was still at an ‘ideas in principle’ stage and it was up to councillors and the public to ensure that they were part of ‘putting meat on the bones’.

She said that particular attention should be paid to maternity services in Darlington following the controversial ending of 24/7 consultant-led maternity and paediatric services at the Friarage Hospital in Northallerton in 2013.

*Lean clinicians from the Darlington trust will give more information on the Better Health Programme in Monday's Northern Echo.