A NORTH-EAST MP has joined forces with the chairman of a hospital friends group to express concern over the rumoured removal of services.

Darlington MP Jenny Chapman and Alan Charlton, chairman of the Friends of Darlington Memorial Hospital, have written an open letter to Stephen Eames and Tony Waites, chief executive and chairman of County Durham and Darlington NHS Trust, respectively.

In the letter, they say moving services from Darlington Memorial Hospital would “do nothing less than rip the heart out of our town”.

The letter was written in response to rumours that the children’s and maternity services could be moved from Darlington to Durham City.

Earlier this month, plans to close the acute stroke treatment unit at Darlington and centralise the county-wide service at The University Hospital of North Durham, in Durham City, moved a step closer when a meeting agreed that formal proposals should be drawn up.

The letter states: “The analysis upon which your decision to move stroke services away from Darlington rests is not sufficient to justify the decision.

“Where is the population mapping to demonstrate your assumptions about ease of access to each hospital?

“Why do you suggest there is poor access to vascular ultrasound imaging at Darlington Memorial? These questions must be properly answered before any decisions can be made.”

The letter expresses worry that assurances were previously given by the trust about the future of stroke services in Darlington.

“It is our belief that patients and residents are not aware of these latest proposals, believing instead that, following last year’s discussions, services are safe.

“Darlington Memorial Hospital serves the biggest centre of population in the trust area. Darlington has good public transport links and the hospital enjoys the active support of volunteers.

“If more services are removed from Darlington Memorial Hospital, it will do nothing less than rip the heart out of our town.

“We urge you not to make any decisions about stroke or other services that would remove them from our hospital.”

The trust has said it intends to provide high-quality hospital services for the long-term and maintain access as locally as possible.