Doctor's surgery closes despite protests

Residents in a County Durham village have lost their fight to prevent their doctor's branch surgery from closing.

Health trust officials have voted unanimously to close the Quarrington Hill branch surgery after being told the premises were not good enough.

The surgery, which serves nearly 900 patients, currently opens every Monday morning and covers the communities of Quarrington Hill and Cassop.

Local patients take advantage of the weekly service as the main practice is two miles away in Coxhoe with no regular bus service from their villages.

But the practice said shared facilities at Quarrington Hill Community Centre are inadequate and do not afford privacy.

Local councillors who argued against the closure said the bus service to Coxhoe was infrequent, and the elderly and vulnerable would suffer most.

But the Durham and Chester-le-Street Primary Care Trust said they had no choice but to close the surgery and said a volunteer scheme to transport patients to Coxhoe would be set-up.