SPEAKING OUT: Revd John Moore was one of many to express his frustration
SPEAKING OUT: Revd John Moore was one of many to express his frustration

A PUBLIC meeting over the closure of Barnard Castle’s out-of-house service saw widespread frustration from residents – with Teesdale’s MP accusing the NHS of being “addicted to reorganisation”.

About 70 people packed into the town’s Methodist church hall last Wednesday night after MP Helen Goodman called a meeting over the decision to shut the extended hours service at Richardson Hospital.

There was shock when NHS chiefs at the meeting announced that the service would close as soon as October 1 – something even Ms Goodman wasn’t aware of.

She complained of consultation documents being full of “jargon” that ordinary people couldn’t understand, while other residents expressed fears that the closure was “another nail in the coffin” of the community hospital.

In response, the health bosses explained that the service simply wasn’t used enough and was a poor use of “valuable resources”.

Cath Robson, from Stanhope, was among those who claimed the public consultation about the changes ignored the wishes of residents in Teesdale and Weardale.

She said: “Sixty per cent of people from the Durham dales opposed the changes. Sixty per cent of people have said ‘no’. The opportunity to keep the service was not presented as one of the options [in the consultation].”

Sarah Burns, from Durham Dales, Easington and Sedgefield Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), responded: “We have to deliver a service that’s viable. It’s not a good use of NHS money [at the moment].”

The service was opened in 2017 to give patients the chance to be seen the same day by a health care professional. It operates between 6pm and 8pm weekdays and 8am to 1pm on weekends but is on an appointments-only basis. Staff operating the NHS 111 phoneline are responsible for sending patients to the centre, or deciding if they should go elsewhere – for example Bishop Auckland.

There were many complaints that call centre staff weren’t aware of the service in Barnard Castle, leading to a probe by chiefs.

Ms Burns said this revealed 15 per cent of people were being sent out of town when they could have gone to Richardson Hospital.

However, the meeting heard that even with these people attending, the out-of-hours centre in Barnard Castle would still not be “viable”.

“We struggle to get and retain staff. These are highly qualified staff who want to see a high volume of patients but a lot of appointments [80 per cent at Stanhope and Barnard Castle] are not being utilised,” Ms Burns.

From next month, residents will be directed to an out-of-hours centre at Bishop Auckland, although transport will be provided for residents who are too ill or can’t get there – via a taxi or a non-emergency ambulance vehicle.

Ms Burns said “mobile clinicians” would also visit people’s homes.

“We believe the best service is a central hub, transport for those who don’t have it and an outreach service for the frail and elderly,” she said.

Ms Burns said the new service would not be cheaper to run. However, there were widespread concerns.

Resident and former town councillor Sheila Dixon suggested it was not appropriate to have taxis taking patients to appointments.

“What happens if a person’s condition worsens on the journey?” she asked.

Resident Jane Peat said: “If you are quite old, you do not want to be travelling, especially if you are unwell.”

Former councillor John Watson blamed Tony Blair for allowing doctors to opt out of out-of-hours care. He said Barnard Castle’s surgery should be given more resources instead of making “sick and vulnerable” residents “traipse” off to Bishop Auckland – a town he said had poor public transport links with Teesdale.

Campaigner Jane Hackworth-Young said she had knocked on hundreds of doors as part of the local Labour Party’s campaign on the issue and had not found one person who had been directed to Richardson Hospital’s out-of-hours centre via the NHS 11 system.

Ms Hackworth-Young added: “The decision was made to close the service before the consultation. You are trying to say it’s not used but people can’t get to it – it’s disgraceful.”

She and fellow protestor Ros Evans said they would consider a review via the secretary of state.

Others complained that they hadn’t been aware of the public consultation, although the CCG said it had been widely publicised.

Ms Burns said the only way residents could challenge the decision was to show the consultation process was flawed.

However, she said it had been given the seal of approval by Durham County Council’s overview and scrutiny group, along with NHS England which had supported the changes.

But Ms Goodman replied: “I was not aware it was going to happen on October 1. The change is so rapid it’s incredibly difficult to keep track.”

Revd John Moore, a member of the patient participation group, told the meeting that the NHS had confused residents over the situation, adding: “The population of Barnard Castle doesn’t understand anything about all of this. We are utterly confused at the moment.”

The meeting also heard the consultation survey on the changes didn’t mention the town’s hospital – even though the future of its out-of-hours service was under threat.

Ms Burns defended this, saying the consultation was about the service as a whole, but Ms Goodman responded: “That’s the problem. It’s NHS speak. Our speak is about Richardson Hospital – that’s what we understand.”

Ms Goodman raised concerns about the transport system not being able to cope, adding that 35 per cent of people in the area did not have a car.

Chiefs were called to defend the NHS 111 system, which is run by the region’s ambulance service. They said the operators were well trained and used a computer matrix system to determine a patient’s need.

Ms Goodman concluded the public meeting by saying: “The consultation process may have technically ticked all the legal boxes, but the language used made it inaccessible for ordinary members of the public. She wanted less “jargon” in the future, and asked the CCG to report back with an official review of the new out-of-hours system in 12 months.

Ms Goodman also complained about the number of organisations and trusts involved in running the NHS locally. She said: “There is extreme fragmentation of responsibility for the public health service and it’s extremely frustrating for the public. The [NHS] have moved into a space that when there’s a problem, there’s a reorganisation. There is an addiction to reorganisation.”

Ms Burns said feedback of the service’s performance would be provided to the patient participation group and suggested people should

join.