HOSPITAL: A sensible solution

I write in response to the recent article regarding the Northumberland Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) meeting and its update on hospital closures (Northumberland Gazette, April 4).

Two-and-a-half years after the closure of the 12 inpatient beds at Rothbury Hospital there is a positive way forward.

Having recently visited Haltwhistle Hospital, a 15-bed unit situated in a similar rural area, it is evident that here is a successful model that works in Northumberland.

Following a flawed consultation process by the CCG, its inability to outline what a Health and Wellbeing Centre would be, plus the increased distances people now travel since the Whalton unit moved to Wansbeck Hospital, surely the only sensible solution is to reopen the Rothbury beds, mirroring the Haltwhistle unit.

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