NORTH West Durham MP Laura Pidcock has handed in a petition to Parliament about the future of a community hospital.

It calls on Health Secretary Matt Hancock to ensure there are no further reductions to NHS services in Consett and the wider area.

The 1,500-signature petition highlights a succession of Government funding reductions has led to fewer services being delivered at Shotley Bridge Hospital over the years and comes as health chiefs looking at plans that could see the community hospital replaced with a smaller medical centre.

The local Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), North Durham CCG, have been involved in a public engagement exercise over the last few months, with the aim of getting the views of people who use the services and their families.

The CCG have suggested that the Shotley Bridge Hospital’s crumbling buildings are too expensive to maintain or repair and are therefore proposing a new build facility in the area.

Residents have been also been asked their views on several proposals, including the permanent withdrawal of endoscopy and surgery theatres from the hospital and the reduction of hours for urgent care at the new facility, as well as on the number of hospital beds that would be needed for any new facility.

Ms Pidcock said: “Although the arguments to move to a new, purpose-built healthcare facility in the Shotley Bridge and Consett area are strong, that should not be the end of the discussion.

“The overall direction of NHS healthcare provision over a number of decades has been towards centralised provision, with local, community hospitals losing services, expertise, and beds.

“While I accept that there are some medical reasons for this, it’s clear that this has meant rural communities like much North West Durham losing access to health provision, care, knowledge, and local jobs. Particularly for poorer, ageing and rural residents, this has real life consequences.”

She added: "There is a danger that we end up with the ‘least worst’ provision, and instead of having ambition for our residents, we settle for provision which, again, drives people towards being disenfranchised, accepting a lower level of service.

"In fact, we should be looking at some of the services which have been lost over the decades and ask why that has been allowed to happen and whether some of those can be restored.”

The engagement exercise has constituted of a number of well attended meetings in the surrounding area. Once the results of this engagement have been assessed, there will a formal consultation based on an option recommended by North Durham CCG.

Shotley Bridge Hospital originated in the building of Whinney House in 1913, was converted to an emergency hospital during the Second World War and became a General Hospital in 1948. Although it was once one of the largest hospitals in the Northern region, in the decades since, many services have been transferred elsewhere, and buildings were demolished for housing.

The local Labour Party have organised a campaign to Save Shotley Services, with street stalls, leafleting and a members meeting, in the course of which they have collected 1561 signatures from North West Durham constituents. ”