'Give public a say on plans for the Richardson Hospital'

COUNCILLORS have demanded a public consultation on proposed downgrades at the Richardson Hospital after strongly objecting to bed cutbacks.

Fears over the future of the hospital were put directly to healthcare bosses Sarah Burns and Noel Scanlon, at a special council meeting of Barnard Castle Town Council last week.

The meeting came after the County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust revealed plans to reduce beds from 24 to 16 at the hospital.

Job losses are expected if the cuts go ahead with hours slashed and staff “redeployed” to other parts of the county where they may not have the means to commute.

Town councillors unanimously agreed they would object strongly to the proposals to cut bed numbers and the “loss of care and jobs this will cause”.

They also objected to the lack of public consultation and requested public participation as a “matter of urgency”.

But before the unanimous decision, the two health managers faced some tough questioning.

Noel Scanlon, executive director of nursing and patient experience for the County Durham and Darlington Foundation Trust Board, told councillors demand could be met by 16 beds with “some degree of comfort” adding the Richardson had an important role to play in “intermediate health provision”.

He said: “A quarter of patients at the hospital are not from Teesdale.

“Our primary intention is to get patients to live at home safely with a better quality of life. Although this is disruptive and will give rise to anxiety, we think we have given staff every opportunity to engage with us.”

Ms Burns, from the Durham, Darlington, Easington and Sedgefield Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), added: “I have looked at occupancy figures over the past few years and I feel comfortable the number of beds commissioned will meet current and future demand.”

However, Cllr John Blissett questioned the “veil of secrecy” over the latest bed cuts and criticised the trust’s consultation.

He said: “In October 2015 we were told at that meeting the Lowson Ward closure was temporary – now we are told it is not re-opening.

“Elderly people go in there and need that GP cover. This is our community hospital for all of Teesdale and should be retained as such. I firmly believe we should be making our views known and that should be total opposition.”

Durham county councillor Richard Bell wanted to know what the long term plan for the hospital was.

He said: “Particularly given past assurances and a lack of consultation, it’s particularly worrying what has just happened.

“One positive to take away is the mortgage had to be paid so the CCG is very much four square behind utilising it.”

Cllr Judi Sutherland pressed the trust to “admit it had lied” about the closure of the Lowson Ward.

She added: “In 2016, the CCG and the trust promised us that closure of Lowson was temporary and everything would be done to get it up and running by September 2016.

“Do you think lying to the community is acceptable? You have lied to us.

“It was reported very clearly what was said – if you are going to change your mind, why not come back and tell the public.

“Half the problems are because you have not bothered to inform the community in any way.”

Mr Scanlon said the trust prided itself on consulting its staff first.

He added: “It would be entirely inappropriate, and against good employment practice, for any members of our staff to read in the local newspaper any plans we had around the future of their employment.

“I do not have any reason to repudiate that approach.”

Ms Burns said difficulties in recruiting nurses and staff had “not improved” and Mr Scanlon insisted jobs were being advertised.

Mr Scanlon added: “We are not proposing to make anyone redundant – we may redeploy them elsewhere.”

In response to calls for a public consultation, Ms Burns said the changes at the Richardson did not meet the threshold as it did not amount to a “significant change”.

“I can say there will be engagement with stakeholders with a strategic review,” she added.

Members of the Friends of Richardson Hospital were out in numbers for the meeting and they feared the closure would render a “considerable part of the hospital building unused”.

It a statement, a spokesperson for the charity added: “We are especially concerned for staff affected by these developments.

“Our main concern has to be for the continuation of community services including sufficient commissioned in-patient beds to meet local community needs.

“It is our view that the community should be consulted on, or at the very least advised of, the plans for the future of the building and of services to be delivered on behalf of the NHS.”

Cllr Frank Harrison said he was given the choice of Bishop Auckland or Darlington to cope with his recent leg problem and had to tell the doctor of his preference for the Richardson.

A lack of GP cover at weekends was also pointed out to health bosses.

Marie Yarker, from the Friends of Richardson Hospital, said: “We have had this issue for five years with doctors not being able to cover.

“We cannot take anyone into the hospital if we have not got that level of care – it’s been going on a long time.”

Ms Burns said the CCG was trying to tackle low GP numbers but added they “did not grow on trees”.

Christopher Adams, two-time Conservative candidate for Teesdale’s parliamentary seat, asked whether data on bed use could be released by the trust and questioned the threshold for public consultation.

He added: “There are those who might be concerned we would have a major service change by 1,000 cuts.

“I think people will be very worried about this threshold where we get down to 12 to 16 beds and get to a situation of a last stand for the Richardson Hospital which would be totally unacceptable to people in Teesdale.”

Ms Burns said the CCG “would never do that” and would engage with the public while Mr Scanlon confirmed the data would be available.