The NHS is currently undertaking a public consultation – ostensibly about improving services, but it has to save something like £350 million in our area. One of the services under threat is Darlington A&E. Visitors to last week’s engagement event in Newton Aycliffe town centre were somewhat reassured, but Bishop Auckland MP Helen Goodman has seen documents suggesting the closure of at least one local hospital.
It is therefore clear that we need to defend our local NHS, and I was proud to take part in Sunday’s ‘Footprints’ protest march from Darlington Memorial to Bishop Auckland Hospital. The Footprints marches are designed to demonstrate how damaging the loss of local services would be, by showing just how far it is from one hospital to another – a fact that my aching knees well appreciated by the end of the day! John D Clare
