THE urgent care centre at Hexham General Hospital will remain closed overnight for a further three months.
Health chiefs met today to consider the future of overnight care services.
And Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust has now announced that the temporary arrangements at urgent care centres in Hexham, North Tyneside and Wansbeck general hospitals will remain in place until September.
The trust claims that the measures are necessary to ensure the skills of nursing staff are used where they are most needed overnight.
Since December 2016, the three urgent care centres have been closed between midnight and 8am.
The temporary change was established in order to maximise staff skills during the busy winter period.
The closures were extended in March 2017 as NHS services were said to remain at a high level.
And at today's board meeting, healthcare leaders at the trust agreed that it would be 'inappropriate' to deploy staff overnight at the urgent care centres.
In its announcement this afternoon, Northumbria Healthcare NHS Trust stated that since the temporary measure was implemented there has been no detrimental impact on patient care and no significant change in the number of people accessing services overnight at the emergency care hospital in Cramlington.
The trust has stressed that the move is a temporary decision and says it will continue to work with NHS Northumberland and North Tyneside Clinical Commissioning Groups on future arrangements.
Check the Hexham Courant website for more updates on this story.
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