Bishop Auckland Hospital 4.42

Bishop Auckland Hospital is a small NHS district general hospital serving the western part of County Durham, with a primarily rural catchment area centred on the Wear Valley. It was opened in 2002 and then had around 286 beds, but this number has since been cut substantially. There has been much controversy over the recent 'decline of services' in this hospital. The hospital is part of the County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust.The issue which made much controversy was the loss of the special care baby unit (SCBU) Special care babies are now cared for at Darlington Memorial Hospital, Ward 3 (Haematology) was also closed down, and surgical beds were greatly cut, so that now only relatively minor surgical procedures are carried out at the hospital.The overall quality and use of services in the trust (County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust) was rated as 'Good' by the HealthCare Commission Ratings. The other two main sites in the trust are Darlington Memorial Hospital and University Hospital of North Durham.In June 2009, it was announced that the hospital's children's ward will close from 1 July 2009, with all services transferred to Darlington and Durham, a decision that was attacked by campaigners against the hospital's downgrading, but defended by NHS management on the basis of paediatric specialists being "spread too thin".