PROTESTORS have warned an overhaul of stroke care could see Bishop Auckland Hospital ‘dismantled bit by bit’.

Concerns have been mounting for the future of the town’s health facility after NHS bosses announced plans to move stroke rehab services to Durham City.

But campaigners fighting to save the hospital have urged health chiefs to reconsider and questioned the logic behind the proposals.

The Northern Echo: Coun Sam Zair, Durham County CouncilCoun Sam Zair, Durham County Council

“I cannot see how this is going to work and meet people’s needs better,” said Cllr Sam Zair, an independent county councillor for the town.

“At the end of the day there’s going to be a reduction of beds, no matter which way you look at it and I don’t think it will work – I’m not convinced patients’ needs are being taken into consideration.”

He added: “Bishop Auckland Hospital has been devalued and I fear for where it’s going to end up, for 12 years it has been dismantled bit by bit.

“If it’s not broken don’t mend it, we have a fantastic rehab service in Bishop Auckland, so if it’s not broken leave it alone or add beds.” 

Cllr Zair was speaking at Monday's inaugural meeting of the Joint Health Scrutiny Panel for County Durham and Darlington, which has been set up to look at the potential impact of proposed changes to stroke services and Bishop Auckland Hospital.

Consultation on the proposals is due to restart later this month and if approved would see stroke care centralised at University Hospital of North Durham (UHND), which bosses say would improve treatment and reduce length of hospital stays.

“This isn’t a money saving exercise,” said Rachel Rooney, head of engagement and commissioning and development manager at North Durham Clinical Commissioning Group.

“There’s an element of using what we’ve already got to best effect and there’s an efficiency saving in terms of how we use our workforce, but in terms of hard cash there isn’t [much benefit].”

She added: “This is about quality of care, about people who have had a stroke and who aren’t receiving the quality of care they deserve, this is about driving up quality.

“We haven’t got millions of pounds to spare, but even if we did, we cannot grow consultants on trees.”