Urgent treatment centre's night closure extended
GoogleA hospital's urgent treatment centre is set to remain closed overnight for another three months due to staff shortages.
Shotley Bridge Hospital in County Durham has been shut between midnight and 08:00 GMT since July.
The closure, which was initially set to last three months, was later extended to January.
County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust said "keeping patients safe must always come first".
"Right now, we do not have enough staff to safely run the service overnight," a spokesperson said.
"The urgent treatment centre will continue to open as normal during the daytime.
"We are working hard to improve staffing so the service can return to full opening when it is safe to do so."
The trust previously said the facility had been shut overnight 65 times between January and June last year, due to staffing shortages
It also said on average just five people attended the site each night.
Construction of a new hospital in Consett, which includes an in-patient rehabilitation ward and urgent treatment centre, is expected to be completed by 2030.
