CALLS have been made for the Lowson Ward at Barnard Castle’s Richardson Hospital be re-opened to help the NHS cope during the coronavirus pandemic.
Teesdale Labour Party appealed to the area’s clinical commissioning group (CCG), which manages the hospital to reopen the ward to provide a safe place for patients who have left acute care but cannot manage at home.
Spokeswoman Jane Hackworth-Young said: “There will also be a need to separate out acute services to avoid transmission of Covid-19.
“The Durham Dales Foundation Trust is commissioned by the CCG to manage the beds in Richardson Hospital in Barnard Castle.
“The trust and the CCG need to work together imaginatively to provide more beds and to re-open Lowson Ward.
“Thousands of volunteers and medics who have retired from the NHS have come forward to offer help, so staffing need not be an issue.”
County councillor Richard Bell has also been in touch with health chiefs.
He said: “I have written to Sue Jacques, of the Darlington Foundation Trust, and Stewart Findlay, of the CCG, to remind them that the empty Lowson Ward is there if needed. The national challenge is more about staffing levels and equipment, not accommodation. There is talk on the national news of nurses being drafted to London to help with shortages there.
“But currently cases in County Durham are relatively few in number. Premature opening would draw resources away from where they are needed most.
“Retired staff still need current NHS staff to retrain them as there are lots of new ways of working to follow. Volunteers would need more input still.
“On this issue I am happy to trust the professionals.”
