A ROW has broken out after the Labour leader of Darlington Borough Council was accused of encouraging people to desert their local hospital.

On Thursday, The Northern Echo highlighted a warning by Councillor Bill Dixon, Labour leader of Darlington Borough Council, that people in the town might opt to be treated in Middlesbrough if more services were transferred from Darlington Memorial Hospital to the University Hospital of North Durham in Durham City.

It followed a decision by NHS County Durham and Darlington last week to back plans to close the stroke unit at Darlington Memorial and concentrate countywide emergency stroke treatment 23 miles north at the North Durham hospital.

Coun Dixon said patients might “vote with their feet”

and ask to be treated at The James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough, which is only 15 miles from Darlington.

But last night, his comments were criticised by the leader of the minority Conservative group on the council.

Councillor Heather Scott said: “It is very irresponsible for him to suggest that Darlington patients should move to another hospital. We should be fighting to ensure we retain as many services as we possibly can.”

Like Coun Dixon, Coun Scott said she was very disappointed at the decision, despite the council’s arguments that Dralington should be the preferred site.

“I feel extremely strongly about this. His comments could be seen as putting the future of the Memorial hospital in jeopardy,” she added.

Stephen Eames, chief executive of the County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the two hospitals, said the decision will not have any impact on the wider portfolio of services at the Memorial.

He said the decision fitted in with “our emerging strategy to develop greater interdependence between our hospitals by creating centres of excellence in a range of specialties on each site”.

He said the changes would allow round-the-clock emergency stroke care to be offered.

A trust spokesman said the new unit would open “as soon as possible, bearing in mind winter pressures”.

He said the stroke beds at Darlington are expected to revert to general medical use and most of the staff will move to Durham City.

Lady Ann Calman, chairwoman of NHS County Durham and Darlington, said: “We have listened carefully to the views of local people raised through the public consultation and have taken these fully into account in reaching our decision to support the proposals.”

The decision to make Durham City the location for the new centralised service was based on “greater capacity to provide specialist diagnostic facilities for the majority of people in County Durham and Darlington and speedier access to vascular surgery”.