A SENIOR surgeon has spoken out against proposals that would strip his hospital of a consultant-led maternity unit and special care baby unit.

The comments by Stuart Walton, consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at the University of North Tees Hospital, could be the opening shot in a turf war between the Stockton hospital and its neighbour in Hartlepool.

Mr Walton said the recently unveiled Darzi plan for Teesside hospitals had got it wrong.

"The unit at North Tees would not only be the most suitable, but currently has the spare capacity to absorb an increase in-patient load if it was the consultant-led service - without any new build or alteration," said Mr Walton.

The plan was drawn up by London surgeon Sir Ara Darzi in a bid to guarantee the future of hospital services north of the Tees.

Prof Darzi said the two hospitals should merge some services.

Under the scheme, the Hartlepool hospital would keep accident and emergency, acute medicine and critical care and lose emergency surgery to the hospital at Stockton.

Prof Darzi would also like to see a centre of excellence for women and children established at Hartlepool.

But while the Stockton hospital would continue to provide a full accident and emergency service and acute medicine, it would lose its special care baby unit and consultant-led maternity unit, which would be downgraded to a midwife-led unit.

The changes would mean that women who develop complications during labour would have to be taken to Hartlepool.

Mr Walton said the Stockton site was already a centre of excellence, with recently revamped facilities that would be lost if the switch to Hartlepool went ahead.

The move could also lead to many women in places including Ingleby Barwick, Yarm and Thornaby opting to be seen at the already over-subscribed James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough, he said.