I was delighted to be invited to Hexham Hospital yesterday for the long-awaited announcement that after nine months of closure the Overnight Care Service at Hexham Hospital is to be reopened and 24 hour care reinstated.
I have led a long and robust campaign to get the Centre reopened since it was first closed on a temporary basis last December, and have been supported in my campaign by many people. Many constituents have contacted me to reiterate how important this service is to Hexham and Tynedale and since the closure was first announced I have had numerous meetings with patients, nurses and Trust managers to stress the fact that overnight care must restart and that promises were made at the time of the opening of the Cramlington Specialist Emergency Care Hospital that Hexham would keep its 24 hour service.
Following the recruitment of 65 extra nurses, the reopening of Hexham overnight will mean that capacity is released for the Cramlington hospital to deal with the most serious emergencies. I have been able to convince the Trust of the financial, and indeed the clinical case for reopening the overnight facility - the nurses are delighted and so are the people of Hexham and Tynedale. A great result.
