SERIOUS concerns have been raised about proposals to move specialist health services away from a hospital because it is feared acute services are being centralised away from County Durham.

A review of vascular services in the North-East has been carried out, with the Northern England Strategic Clinical recommending surgical services should no longer be available at the University Hospital of North Durham (UHND) in Durham.

Currently, full vascular services are provided by UHND, James Cook Memorial Hospital, Freeman Hospital and Sunderland Royal, but the review says the number of centres should be cut to three.

The proposals are due to be discussed at a special scrutiny meeting at Durham County Council on Friday.

Cllr John Robinson, who chairs the committee, has written to the North Region Specialised Commissioning Team, to voice concerns raised by the proposal and question the rationale for there being a centre in Sunderland rather than Durham.

He said: “The committee has concerns at the reference to Sunderland Royal Hospital being geographically located in the centre of the region as a criteria for selection given that UHND is equally equidistant to Newcastle and Middlesbrough.

“Members also have serious concerns at the approach that appears to be being adopted to centralise all major acute service provision at hospitals within Newcastle, Sunderland and Middlesbrough to the detriment of all other acute hospitals across the region, not least UHND.”

The review said that there was a “strong case” for both Durham and Sunderland becoming the third arterial centre but came to the “undoubtedly difficult” decision to recommend that Sunderland was better placed due it’s location, infrastructure and and number of consultant radiologists.

Vascular services for County Durham and Darlington Foundation Trust have been centralised at UHND since 2011, with outpatient services provided by Darlington Memorial, Bishop Auckland, Chester-le-Street and Shotley Bridge hospitals.