THE decision to extend the overnight closure of Hexham General Hospital has caused controversy, with 91.5 per cent of voters in our online poll last week agreeing that the service should be reinstated.

Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust last week announced it would extend overnight closures at its three urgent care centres for a further three months until June.

Urgent care centres at Hexham, North Tyneside and Wansbeck have been closed since December between midnight and 8am.

The trust said the temporary change in opening times was introduced to maximise the skills of staff during the busy winter period.

We took to the streets of Hexham to find out people’s thoughts.

Heather Stoelk (65), from Allendale, said: “I think it’s an absolute disgrace. They seem to be doing away with everything in Hexham.

“I live in Allendale and I don’t even know how long it would take to get to Cramlington from there – it’s too far to travel.

“If people take ill overnight they need emergency care, even if they just had a doctor and a nurse there it would be something.”

Rachel Ridley, from Corbridge, said: “It does worry me; I’ve got two young children and if there is an emergency, Cramlington is so far away.

“I don’t feel like it’s been properly communicated. I happened to hear it on the radio the other day, but I’ve heard nothing else.

“If anything happened we wouldn’t go to Cramlington, we would drive to Newcastle as it’s closer.”

Gavin Reid, a 48-year-old father from Acomb, said: “It’s certainly important to us. My son was born there.

“The service has been downgraded over the past couple of years, so it seems like they have been setting it up for this.

“It does bother me – we would have to go the RVI which would take less time to get to than Cramlington.

“It’s certainly a valuable service for people in Hexham and the wider area to have – we have used it ourselves and it’s worrying that it’s no longer there.”

John Moulding (72), who lives in Hexham, said: “It should be 24 hours.

“What are you supposed to do for transport at night? There’s a taxi, but if you haven’t got the money for that, you have no chance by the time you wait for an ambulance.

“If there is an emergency on a night time you want to know help isn’t far away, not worry about how you are going to get to hospital.”

A Hexham woman, who works for the NHS and did not want to be named, said: “So much was being moved out of Hexham. From the maternity unit being moved to Cramlington to complications being moved to Newcastle; this was the next thing.

“It’s really a reflection on the squeezes on the NHS. I work for the NHS and there are huge squeezes to public services.

“With the way things are with the emergency services and waiting times for ambulances, Cramlington is a long way.

“I would have used the hospital at night myself if I needed to. It’s a shame.”

The trust has emphasised that this is a temporary decision only, which has been taken for operational reasons and will be re-visited in June.

After looking at activity levels since 2015, Northumbria Healthcare found an average of only two attendances overnight at Hexham – and 83 days saw no activity all between midnight and 8am.

Dr David Shovlin, a GP in Hexham and director for unplanned care at NHS Northumberland Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) said: “We have spoken with the trust and fully support the further extension of these temporary arrangements which are working well at a time of continued high demand.

“Given the pressures facing the NHS, it is vital that we use resources in the right way in the best interests of patient care.”