The Yorkshire Post says: Standing up for the Friarage Hospital and healthcare in rural Yorkshire
PATIENT safety must come first, hence the decision to scale back the treatment of seriously-ill patients at Friarage Hospital, Northallerton, and transfer the patients concerned to hospitals in either Middlesbrough or Darlington, due to a shortage of specialist staff.
Yet, while Richmond MP Rishi Sunak hopes, and believes, that the measure is a short-term one as he seeks clarity from the South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, it will not be lost on his voters that he is also a local government minister.
And rather than putting pressure on local NHS chiefs, he should be asking why the Department of Health and Social Care has not taken sufficient steps to make sure there are sufficient staff.