All five members of the McClintock family use the health and fitness facilities at the town’s Wentworth Leisure Centre, but fear the service is deteriorating as staff face an anxious wait to see if their jobs will be axed.
Active Northumberland is considering comments from staff following its controversial plans to halve the working hours in the health and fitness sections of all its centres, which would lead to gyms being unstaffed for up to 50 hours per week.
Jo McClintock, a consultant paediatric anaesthetist at Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary, is concerned about the implications the staff cuts will have, and said there was already evidence of a dwindling service in Hexham.
She said: “Wentworth is being cut back to such an extent that Active Northumberland is in danger of not offering basic community services.
“People with a variety of conditions are referred there through the GP referral programme and are helped on and off the equipment and encouraged by the staff.
“I think it would be a travesty to remove staff from the gym, as vulnerable people like this wouldn’t be able to go any more.”
Dr McClintock added: “I think if it gets to the point that basic services are no longer offered, or priced out of people’s ability to pay, then the organisation doesn’t want to keep people healthy and well and doesn’t support the most vulnerable members of the community.”
A spokesman for Active Northumberland said: “The consultation period has now ended and we are discussing various options raised by the staff during this time.”
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