YOUR article (Echo, May 23) on the review of hospital services run by County Durham and Darlington Foundation NHS Trust (CDDFT NHS Trust) states that "hospital officials are minded to concentrate acute services" on two sites resulting in a "two-tier" service.
This review is being led by consultants, nurses and other clinical staff, supported by our governors. Proposals for change are being made by hospital clinicians, not hospital officials.
There may be speculation about how changes may affect particular sites, but a lot of detailed work needs to be done before decisions can be made.
However, we are certainly not thinking about a "two-tier" service - which suggests some hospitals providing a lesser service than others.
Our trust is a group of small hospitals which need to work together. As clinicians, we want to make sure that each site provides excellent, high quality, safe, sustainable services to patients.
Robert Aitken, medical director; Dr Neil Munro, consultant physician; Iain Bain, consultant general surgeon; Ahmed Ali, consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist; and Professor Peter Gray, consultant pathologist, CDDFT NHS Trust.
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