PUBLIC meetings are being held later this month for doctors and hospital managers to explain a review of the Friarage Hospital.

Local people are worried that the Northallerton hospital could be about to suffer a cut in services, despite a £21m re-development project currently being under way.

Bosses at South Tees NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, have set up a Clinical Futures Project Board to look at the best way forward.

It has already agreed that more work is needed to identify the best way of organising services at the Friarage in four key areas. These are front-of-house (accident and emergency and the medical assessment unit), general surgery, anaesthetics, and women and children's services.

Public meetings have now been arranged to discuss the review. They will take place at 7pm on March 15 at the Manton Suite, Thirsk Racecourse and March 31 at Richmond Town Hall. Further meetings are being set up this month and next in Wensleydale and Northallerton.

Simon Kirk, chief executive of Hambleton and Richmondshire Primary Care Trust, said: "We have now got to the stage where we want to share with local people the issues we are wrestling with and what we are trying to achieve through the review.

"We know that concern is being expressed locally about the future of the Friarage and the public information meetings will be an opportunity to respond to these concerns.

"People need to understand the problems faced by hospital trusts and primary care trusts, particularly around small hospitals, such as the Friarage."