Durham County Council unanimously backed a motion calling on the health authority to explain service withdrawals, delays, and future provision at Shotley Bridge Hospital. It comes after the overnight closure of the hospital’s Urgent Treatment Centre (UTC) was extended by a further three months until March. Continued delays to the newbuild hospital project in Consett were also raised, with the Government urged to release the necessary funding to meet current and future healthcare demand. In agreeing the motion, cross-party councillors warned that the continued UTC closure and new hospital delays “risk placing both Central Government and NHS bodies in breach of their statutory obligations.”Councillors warned that the closure would increase the extensive delays at University Hospital North Durham’s Accident and Emergency department. However, the trust said that only a minimal increase in patients from the Shotley Bridge area has attended University Hospital of North Durham UTC overnight.