COUNCILLORS have unanimously pledged to urge hospital bosses to do all they can to secure emergency health care provision at Northallerton’s Friarage Hospital.

At a full meeting of Hambleton District Council, members voted to urge South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to do everything in their power to secure the provision in the long term.

Their move comes after it emerged that a lack of anaesthetic cover and difficulty recruiting critical care cover could mean that emergency care at the hospital might be withdrawn.

Council Leader, Cllr Mark Robson, said: “It is vital that we continue to have an emergency service operating out of the Friarage Hospital.

“This is a well-used hospital serving people from across Hambleton and it is unacceptable that people needing emergency care might have to face a journey to Middlesbrough to get treatment.

“We urge the trust to secure this provision in Northallerton.”

Richmondshire MP Rishi Sunak raised the matter in Parliament in July and urged health minister Philip Dunne to press the trust to do everything it can to find more critical care clinicians and anaesthetists.

A spokesman for the South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: “Services have been delivered from The Friarage Hospital for many decades and, as an organisation, we’re absolutely committed to delivering clinically safe and sustainable services to the people of Hambleton, Richmondshire, Whitby and the surrounding area from our Northallerton site.

“Recent developments such as the new MRI scanner which opened in April, along with other planned service developments such as The Sir Robert Ogden Macmillan Centre, demonstrate our long-term commitment.

“Reflecting the national trend, there are a number of workforce challenges facing the Friarage which are starting to impact on some key services including our provision of A&E, critical care and 24/7 anaesthetics cover and this month we’re holding a number of clinical workshops to understand the different clinical scenarios dependent upon the workforce challenges and likelihood of possible long-term solutions.”